


Best Laid Plans

by nothing_left_sacred



Category: Hannibal (TV)
Genre: (not a real kid-fic though), (on both sides), Alpha Hannibal Lecter, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Breeding Kink, Cannibalism, Canon-Typical Violence, Choking, Discussion of Abortion, Dubious Consent, Facial Shaving, Forced Orgasm, Fuck Or Die, Genital Mutilation (case related), Knotting, Lactation Kink, Light BDSM, M/M, Male Lactation, Mating Bond, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Mpreg, Multiple Orgasms, Murder, Omega Will Graham, Post Mpreg, Prostate Massage, Prostate Milking, Rimming, Rutting, True Mates, Will Graham Knows, eventual murder husbands, ruined orgasm
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-20
Updated: 2019-03-20
Packaged: 2019-11-26 13:27:46
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 9
Words: 47,432
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18181220
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nothing_left_sacred/pseuds/nothing_left_sacred
Summary: Will is fairly certain he knows the identity of the Chesapeake Ripper. He's fairly certain he's known for months now.Too bad it's probably his True Mate.--The one where Will makes a series of decisions, and decisions certainly have consequences.





	1. One

**Author's Note:**

> I've wanted to contribute to the Hannigram fandom for a while now, seeing as how I've consumed what is likely a number into the thousands of other people's amazing works!
> 
> Loosely set post "Fromage" (ie; wherein Hannibal kills Tobias), this started off as an idea that was literally just the one-shot that is the first chapter; which would have definitely been a pretty stark and unsatisfying emotional cliffhanger. I then decided to press on and attempt to create some sort of plot, which in the end basically serves to tie various PWP porn-heavy scenes together. I accidentally got to almost 55k words, which is both a personal accomplishment, and not something I intended at all when I set about writing. 
> 
> I've never written anything this long, and I'm sure it shows in the lack of structure and poor development in some sections. The few friends I've had proof-read it have almost unilaterally commented "Wow, that was a lot more porn than I was expecting?" This is one long Unresolved Emotional Tension fic, with plenty of resolved sexual tension.
> 
> In many ways, this is a Frankenstein's monster of tropes and kinks, loosely wrapped into a casefic set in a hand-wavey A/B/O universe. You will find minor nods towards shaving kink, a tongue-in-cheek Sugar Daddy/Baby scene, an egregious sartorial worship scene, an offhand reference to fisting, etc, all on top of the things that have been tagged. 
> 
> I find writing tends to take me in weird directions that I'm genuinely surprised by, such as Hannibal's apparent penchant for ruined orgasms. There is a good deal of dub-con laced throughout the entire work, and I would like to highlight that Hannibal is definitely an asshole who doesn't stop to talk through his plans for sexual scenes/acts, and Will is definitely a masochist who enjoys it, even if he isn't completely aware of the desires that Hannibal brings out in him.
> 
> But really, Hannibal isn't the only one who is an asshole :)
> 
> That all said, Bon Appétit!

There was a creeping feeling of unease settled deep in Will’s gut. He was far too aware that what he was doing was a terrible idea, and yet...

It wasn’t about satisfying his curiosity at this point. He  _ knew _ , just as surely as he knew the sun rose in the east, and that the moon pulled the tides. It was an almost elemental, fundamental truth.

Hannibal Lecter was the Chesapeake Ripper.

Witnessing him, blood dripping down languidly from his full lips, mere feet away from the body of Tobias Budge, whose head was caved in. The doctor looking coolly unaffected, barely paying mind to the cooling corpse at all...

Will had been inside the heads of countless killers - had felt the taint of their minds; thoughts and desires not his own seeping inexorably into his consciousness until he felt his reality begin to blur.

He’d hated that feeling.

Mostly.

Dipping into the mind of the Ripper was almost counterintuitively calming; like slipping beneath the surface of a deep, dark lake. It was cold; the type of bone-deep chill that shocked the senses so completely that you simply ceased feeling.

It was never a murderous rage of fiery passion. It was calm, precise, and singularly beautiful.

Will wanted desperately to hate it. Time and time again though, he’d returned to the crime scene photos. He’d even ended up writing his thesis paper on the Ripper during his Masters; he couldn’t seem to pull himself away from the haunting scenes. The Ripper was a cooling balm to his riotous thoughts, and slipping under his influence felt... right.

Day after day since meeting the man, Will felt himself losing more of the willpower to keep playing their game, wanting to just give up and submit to the mastery and skill of Hannibal’s subtle coercions and suggestions. Will would have to be blind to not realize that the frightfully terrible advice that Hannibal imparted during their sessions and dinners were meant to twist Will; to help him embrace the darkness that he was constantly struggling against.

It was his desperate desire to push back against the tantalizing horror of succumbing to the Ripper’s cold embrace that had brought him to make this terrible decision.

He needed something to definitively tie Hannibal to those gorgeous horrific murders; something to finally get the doctor put away under lock and key - away from  _ Will _ .

As much comfort as the older man brought with his kind words, actual therapeutic suggestions, and generosity, it was always such a double-edged sword, and Will didn’t think he had much longer until it drew blood. Until  _ he _ drew blood.

So Will had decided, reckless though his plan was, to try and catch the Ripper, if only for the sake of his own morality.

And didn’t it say something that too large a part of him wanted to just keep  _ playing _ ?

With a frustrated sigh, Will finally exited his car, mind made up. His hands shook as he walked up the dark, midnight-quiet street. His gait was unsteady, and his panting breath misted in the cold air in harsh plumes.

The unease grew. He couldn’t help but feel guilty, somehow. What he was planning was unspeakably  _ rude _ .

Checking that the coast was clear, he slipped up the front drive of Hannibal’s stately house, and knelt in front of the door.

With his near constant state of heightened observation, previous experience as a cop, and the mindset of hundreds of killers clogging his mind, Will had noted the first time he had visited Hannibal’s home that the older man had no alarm system.

Clearly, a killer on the level of the Ripper would hardly find the need to install something so pedestrian, particularly as he would probably welcome the chance to have his prey come directly to him.

Huffing slightly in amusement at the dark thought, Will turned the handle and pushed the door open on near-silent hinges, having sprung the lock with an old set of lockpicks.

A waft of unexpected scent hit him like a wall, and he gasped in horrified recognition even as he was already stepping inside, hurrying and eager to get the door closed behind him to avoid being caught in the act of breaking and entering by any passers-by.

Will froze in a moment of panicked non-reaction at the wave of rut-scented air that met him. His mind was whirling in disbelief, self-castigation ringing in his head as his inner thoughts were backdropped by a voice hissing ‘ _ stupid stupid stupid stupid so fucking stupid-’ _

Hannibal had left him a detailed message two weeks prior, informing Will of the need to cancel their standing appointment on the eve of the 29th of October, as Hannibal had a vacation planned, and he would be out for a full week. Courteous and considerate as ever, he had also left the number for a colleague to call in his stead, should an emergency arise.

_ He was supposed to be on vacation _ , Will thought, filled with horrified dread.  _ But he didn’t say what he was  _ **_doing_ ** **.**

Will wasn’t an idiot; he had cased the house for days leading up to this attempt, and it had looked as though Hannibal was gone.

But o _ f course  _ Hannibal had decided to go off of his suppressants to allow his rut to naturally reset his system. Most people did it at least once a year - most  _ normal  _ people. Will could have sworn that the older man had done it just a few months ago...

_ Fuck fuck fuck _ -

Though his thoughts only managed to cloud his mind for a handful of seconds, that moment of inaction was more than enough time for the worst to happen.

Out of the darkness of the foyer, a strong, clawed hand reached out and wrapped around his neck, and Will felt himself being slammed directly back into the door.

Eyes still struggling to adjust to the low light, Will hadn’t even notice the silent, naked form of Hannibal Lecter until the alpha was upon him.

Shaking hands came up to try and pry the crushing force away from his neck, his breath already coming out in choked gasps as he felt the pinch of his airway closing.

But it was futile to try and fight an alpha in rut, let alone a thoroughbred like Hannibal clearly was. Somehow the man appeared even more potent and dominant, naked as he was, than he normally did in his immaculate, bespoke suits.

He was gorgeously muscled, long sinewy lines of tanned skin, his chest blanketed in a thicket of grey hair. A thick, heavy cock bobbed between his legs; Will’s eyes quickly darted away from it, looking up.

Red eyes were just barely visible above Hannibal’s snarling lips, his sharp teeth gleaming white in the dim moonlight streaming in through the window high above them.

Will shut his eyes tightly and hissed out a gasping; “Please, Hannibal-”

He shut up immediately at the deep rumbling growl that sparked up in Hannibal’s throat. The alpha mercilessly ripped Will’s hand away from his own, pinning it easily to the door beside Will’s head. The unchecked, rut-fueled strength made Will feel weak as a child before him.

It made him feel helpless;  _ omegan _ .

Tears welled in his eyes, brought on by frustration at the very thought, exacerbated by the natural distress of his lingering air supply, and his explicit fear.

Hannibal had every right to kill anyone who had entered his territory during his rut.

And why would the Ripper even hesitate to kill him? Will’s mind flashed with the image of it, sharp red splashes of blood, the rip of teeth into his flesh, the feel of Hannibal’s claws tearing at his skin.

Mixed with the heady cocktail of pheromones that Hannibal was putting off in cloying waves, Will couldn’t help but moan brokenly at the thought, his gut clenching, cock twitching, heart stuttering.

Was he so fucking pathetic that the idea of Hannibal ripping him apart was this hauntingly sexual? He cried out as Hannibal’s claws dug harshly into his neck, drawing blood.

Teary eyes opened wide as Hannibal leaned in suddenly, scenting directly against the skin of his neck. The squeezing pressure didn’t let up even as Will felt the wet drag of Hannibal’s tongue lapping at the dip of his collar bones, where a trickle of blood had pooled from the wound that Hannibal’s thumb had inflicted on the curve of Will’s throat.

“Hannibal,  _ p-please.” _ Suddenly terrified beyond reason, Will started thrashing in the hold, the choking pressure made worse as he pushed against the hand around his neck. “Let me go! D-don’t -”

His free hand, which had been pushing uselessly against Hannibal’s chest, started to reach up to claw at the man’s face, desperate to get away. Red eyes flared, and another growl erupted from the man as he released Will’s neck, and with a flurry of movement, grasped Will’s wrist and spun him, violently slamming him face-first into the door. The alpha pulled Will’s wrist up behind his back - the arm straining at the rough handling, the old injury on his shoulder screaming.

Will realized belatedly that he was screaming as well, still trying to break away even as Hannibal pinned him with all that brutal strength, broad shoulders pressed tight against him as he shoved Will’s legs open. The hard, twitching length of the alpha’s cock was a searing line pressed against Will’s lower back and ass. It felt huge against him.

Will’s eyes rolled, white with terror - or was it desire? He was gasping, greedy for air now that he was free of the chokehold. He felt delirious with the influx of oxygen and rut-pheromones, and barely resisted as Hannibal took a handful of his curls and yanked his head to the side.

His vision whited out as Hannibal’s sharp teeth ripped into the side of his neck -  _ this wasn’t right, no-no-no-no- _

Hannibal had purposely avoided his mating gland. Will started crying, though he couldn’t tell if it was due to the searing pain, or the anger at being denied. He  _ wanted- _

He didn’t know what he wanted. He wanted Hannibal to rip out his throat with his teeth; he wanted to feel Hannibal tear him to pieces and consume him, his flesh still warm.

He wanted to  _ mate _ -

He-

“Will.” The word was harsh, sibilant, and coated in Hannibal’s thick accent. His tongue rasped at the heavily bleeding wound on Will’s neck. He sucked at the blood, and took a deep, heavy breath of the scent of it. “ _ Omega.” _

A cold shiver of dread wound down his spine. He’d been on suppressants and scent blockers since before his first heat, when he’d read the writing on the wall and decided to shut his biology down,  _ hard _ , before it could even manifest. A male fucking omega. A one in eight hundred thousand chance. Male omegas were coveted, fetishized, sold,  _ fuck toys _ .

He’d run from this moment his whole life.

Of course  _ Hannibal fucking Lecter _ would be able to unearth his secret, despite Will now being on military grade suppressants and blockers. With a palate like his, the man could probably taste whatever pathetic amount of omegan hormones still trickled through his veins.

He couldn’t run from Hannibal.

He couldn’t run from his true mate.

With a startled gasp, Will was pulled away from the door, and before he could even attempt to struggle again, he was tossed over Hannibal’s shoulder in an efficient fireman’s carry.

There was a moment of disbelief before Will started to laugh, his throat scratchy and catching over the noise.

Of course a man accustomed to carting around the deadweight of bodies would be able to heft Will easily; coupled with his rut-fueled strength and the fuck-or-kill alpha mindset, Hannibal was no better than a caveman dragging his omega off to breed.

His shoulder still ached from the rough treatment, but despite himself, a warm heat was growing in his belly. It was completely unsurprising to him that he appeared to be a masochist. He’d only ever engaged in purely vanilla sex, only ever with sweet, beta women, but deep down, he’d always known what he really craved...

The rush of pleasure through him at the promise of rough treatment at the hands of an alpha in rut made Will feel boneless; eager.

He allowed himself to be carried, resigned to his fate; looking forward to it even. He could go willingly, fight it and be taken regardless, or Hannibal could potentially still kill him.

Though, perhaps he’d fight back just for the  _ fun  _ of it. Hannibal would probably enjoy the challenge, up to a point.

During their first meeting in Jack’s office, Will had been completely bemused when he’d caught scent of Hannibal. The alpha had looked unassuming; legs crossed, body language open, an entirely benign entity.

Stark, austere, fashionable, well-kempt, upper-class, refined, controlled. He was opposite to Will in so many integral ways. How this man could have  _ possibly _ set off the alarm-bells in the back of Will’s heavily repressed omegan instincts as  _ mate _ was completely beyond him.

But when he’d walked in on the aftermath of the man’s fight with Tobias Budge and his breath had caught, mind overwhelmed with the dark beauty of it, it had all clicked, and he’d whispered, “ _ Oh...” _

And then he’d gone back to repressing those hated omegan instincts, desperate to escape his biology, and he’d hatched this trainwreck of a plan to have his mate put away, to free himself from the constant temptation of knowingly bonding himself to the Chesapeake Ripper.

Yet somehow, he’d ended up in his waking nightmare. A nightmare that always left him shaking and  _ wet _ .

The master bedroom was rife with the scent of rut and alpha and  _ Hannibal _ , and Will found himself quickly pressed to slippery silken sheets under Hannibal’s larger bulk.

Snarling sharply up into Hannibal’s face, Will thrust his hips up, twisting his body and managing to free one of his hands. He brought up a knee into the larger man’s side, using his free hand to shove the alpha up and off of him slightly, enough to roll away and off the bed.

With a snarl of his own, Hannibal followed, his hands whipping out immediately, one honing in on the tender flesh of the back of Will’s neck - the omegan gentling pressure point, and the other wrapping around Will’s waist to drag him back against Hannibal’s chest.

Will’s limbs went weak in the hold, and he let out a supplicating whine, tilting his head instinctively to bear his neck. He seethed inwardly at the involuntary display. He’d never let anyone touch him there.

The moment that Hannibal loosened his grip on Will’s neck, accepting the omega’s show of submission, Will drove an elbow back into Hannibal’s ribs.

There was a grunt of pain behind him, but the hand around his waist didn’t loosen. Instead, it was joined by Hannibal’s other hand, and suddenly Will’s shirt was being ripped open, buttons scattering with little  _ plinks _ across the dark hardwood floor.

Will started to struggle away, but Hannibal was quick to catch Will’s wrists behind his back, somehow manipulating the fabric of his jacket and shirt into a rough tangle around his hands, binding him.

Hands curled around his hips, and he found himself being lifted and thrown bodily back onto the bed. Will felt another deep clench in his gut, a flash of heat flaring through him at the sheer, brute power of the older man, and he whined again despite himself.

He’d landed on his front, arms still trapped behind him, and he immediately pushed his knees up beneath him, ready to struggle away again, but that hand was suddenly back on his neck. It was startlingly hot and sure as it squeezed hard over his gentling pressure point.

Will went limp under the touch, his face half pressed into the musky, alpha-scented sheets as he tried to catch his breath.

Hannibal gave him a gentle warning squeeze, the nails of his claws pricking delicately at his skin, and Will’s undeniably hard cock twitched in his pants.

Leaning down to press himself over Will, Hannibal scented him deeply, letting out a pleased rumble at the scent of the younger man’s flushed arousal. He nuzzled at Will’s hairline, licked at the sluggishly bleeding wound on his neck, and Will couldn’t help but think that the alpha had enjoyed their little chase.

Boneless now, suffused with the scent of Hannibal all around him, Will lay docile as Hannibal deftly undid Will’s pants with one hand and shoved them down just low enough to expose his ass to the warm air of the room.

Will’s poor, aching cock was still trapped in the confines of his underwear, and he whined, wiggling slightly, earning himself a harsh spank and rumble from Hannibal. When he shifted, he could feel the prickly drag of the teeth of his zippers against his cock through the thin material of his underwear, and he whined again.

Despite being overwhelmed by his rut, and nearly incapable of speech, Hannibal was still capable of being a completely sadistic asshole, and Will could feel the censure in the action as Hannibal spanked him again, demanding stillness.

Will huffed, settling, and was rewarded for his good behaviour when Hannibal removed his grip on the back of Will’s neck and immediately wrapped both hands around the globes of his ass, opened him up, and pressed his face eagerly between to begin feasting on Will’s hole.

The noise Will made could easily be described as a squeak, and he immediately began to thrash forward and away in surprise at the feeling.

Snarling at the interruption, Hannibal wrapped his hands more firmly around Will’s hips, and yanked him back into place, delivering a sharp, almost skin-breaking bite to Will’s cheek.

Will’s hiss of pain quickly turned into a moan of indecisive pleasure as Hannibal delved in again. The man’s breath was hot against the tight furl of Will’s hole between the wet drags of his tongue. He felt himself getting damp from the eager attention, and he was mortified that he couldn’t tell if it was from Hannibal’s saliva or his own slick come out to play, in spite of his suppressants.

Hannibal let out a hum of pleasure as his tongue finally thrust inside, and when he sealed his mouth around Will’s opening, the younger man couldn’t help but feel like his taste was being savoured.

The idea of  _ that mouth _ tasting him drove Will wild, and his legs began to shake as the heat in his belly started to flare into a blaze. His cock was  _ throbbing _ , and he wasn’t sure he could take much more.

Will let out a devastated moan as Hannibal started to work him more vigorously, having no way of describing it other than that he was being fucked by Hannibal’s hot tongue. The slick muscle was piercing into him over and over, deftly manipulated to circle around his hole in random patterns that left Will panting at the tease, the alpha’s teeth occasionally dragging over the reddened, puffy rim.

The most Will had ever had was his own fingers shoved up inside during his phantom-heats, barely slick enough to fit two in. He’d  _ never _ let anyone fuck him, and he sure as hell had never had anyone’s  _ mouth _ on him.

Hannibal lapped him up, sucked at him, and rumbled his enjoyment all the while as he devoured Will so thoroughly that the younger man had no  _ choice _ but to come.

_ Nothing _ had ever felt this good, not his own fingers, not jerking himself off. And even though his cock was still trapped, the light pain of his zippers against his straining length as he thrashed and bucked in Hannibal’s tight grasp helped send him hurtling over the edge.

He pressed his face deep into Hannibal’s bedding as he came, his ass juddering back against Hannibal’s tongue, seeking  _ more _ . He keened, tears coming to his eyes as the orgasm washed over him; he felt so fucking  _ empty  _ and he wanted something  _ in him _ .

His burning need felt almost as terrible as one of his phantom-heats, and a sudden terror rose again in him, despite the knowledge that he couldn’t  _ possibly _ be in heat, that it was likely just his reaction to the rut pheromones, to his true mate; it was just him being  _ weak _ . He started to rear back, ready to try and fight back again, but Hannibal seemed to sense his sudden anxiety, and was there again with a hand at the back of his neck.

“Hannibal, I-” Suddenly there were two fingers pressing into him, and his teeth snapped shut.

They slid in almost easily.  _ Two fingers _ , slick and slippery and thicker than his own and  _ perfect _ . “F-fuck.”

Will’s back arched as they bottomed out, pushed inexorably in and in and in until Will felt contentedly full. “Oh... God, yes...”

And then, with the unerring accuracy of a doctor, Hannibal crooked both fingers and began to  _ torture _ his prostate.

Held as he still was by the back of his neck, Will could do nothing more than shake under the onslaught. Hannibal didn’t thrust the fingers in and out, didn’t stretch him, didn’t do anything other than bear down and rub and massage and coax at his prostate.

“It’s t-too much, Hannibal,” he gasped out, his stomach clenching and cock twitching. “I can’t take it, I can’t, I fucking  _ can’t _ !”

He’d  _ just  _ come, but it appeared Hannibal was single-minded in his goal to make him come again.

With another light squeeze at his nape, Hannibal hushed Will with a soft sound, and kept up the assault, “Come.”

The single word startled Will, but more than that, the sharp, authoritative alpha command swept over him like lightning, and suddenly he was coming. His cock was barely half-hard; it dribbled out another line of come into his already sticky underwear, but the pleasure was focused more on his hole, which spasmed rhythmically around Hannibal’s fingers, sucking at them, and, Will realized,  _ coming _ around them.

He was orgasming like a true omega, filling his channel with slick like a woman.

_ That  _ was what Hannibal had been after - a slicker hole to fuck.

Hannibal kept up the steady rubbing, forcing him well over the edge of orgasm into a prolonged, spiraling descent of almost-painful pleasure, leaving Will’s entire body shaking, his mouth opened in one long, piteous moan. He could feel the slickness now between his cheeks, wet as a bitch in heat now after the forceful orgasm that had been wrung out of him.

He thought he’d been boneless before, but now he lay, insensate, as Hannibal withdrew his fingers with a wet squelch.

Through half-lidded eyes, he caught the movement at the corner of his vision of Hannibal bringing his hand to his mouth, eagerly tasting his slick again with a pleased curl to his lips. His eyes fixed on Will’s and he looked almost amused behind the predatory lust.

Their eyes still locked, Hannibal lined up his cock and slammed home.

Breath punched out of him, Will’s eyes rolled back at the pain and sudden fullness, and it took him a moment to realize that he was coming,  _ again _ .

He let out a long, gurgling curse as he shivered through his orgasm on the alpha’s thick cock, his back arched fully and cock sputtering out another sad drip of come. The walls of his hole spasmed, and he would have pulled completely off of the monstrous intrusion if he could move.

Hannibal was fucking enormous, and as soon as Will came down again, he started cursing the man out in colourful language.

“You complete fucking sadist.” He hissed, still trying to adjust to the fullness. His rim was burning with an edge that travelled all the way down to his toes, which curled inside of his boots. “You pretend to be a fucking gentleman but can’t even work up the decency to prepare me properly before shoving your dick into me.”

Hannibal chuckled, even as he swatted at Will’s ass, which Will could imagine was punishment for his poor language. He tightened further around the length inside him at the slap, and groaned as it made him feel even fuller somehow.

Seeming to hear and understand Will’s unspoken plea, Hannibal held still inside of him, massaging his nape lightly as he let the younger man adjust to the penetration.

Will was honestly impressed with the amount of control that Hannibal possessed, this deep into rut. He’d expected to be fucked bloody, but instead had been eaten out, fingered, and now allowed a respite.

He shifted, trying to get over the pain inside of him, and bore down slightly. The gentle touch on the back of his neck was helping to relax him, and soon the sharp, stabbing feeling subsided into a pleasantly aching burn. His cock began to fill again, and his hole started to squeeze and flex around Hannibal.

“I...”  Will began, unsure. “It’s... you can-”

Sensing the shift in Will, and likely smelling his increased pleasure, Hannibal eagerly drew his cock back, before pressing it inexorably back in.

Will felt every fucking inch of it dragging against his puffy, sensitive hole, the width of it holding him open in a way he had never been before. He immediately found that he loved the sensation.

Long and thick as the alpha was, Will felt a near constant pressure against his sweet spot, and knew it wouldn’t be long before he was having a prostate orgasm again, which would make him slicker.

He  _ wanted _ to come again. He  _ wanted _ that fat cock to slide into him more easily, to have it fuck him faster, harder.

Amazed at himself, he lay there and let Hannibal slowly tear down the walls of his self-denial. He never thought that he would let anyone fuck him, let alone an alpha. He had feared what Hannibal meant to him since the moment he met the man, but now...

He shut his eyes as the slow, methodical drag of Hannibal’s cock brought him to another, smaller orgasm. Just a gentle swell in his lower belly that had him clenching down sweetly. He hadn’t even known that he could come in such disparate ways.

“Hannibal, please...” There was a desperation in his voice, but he barely knew what he needed.

With another soft squeeze on his nape, Hannibal let go, resting the hand next to Will’s head, while the other tightened it’s hold on his hip.

And then he started fucking Will.

Whatever he had been doing before, it was clearly still in deference to letting Will adjust. Now this, though?

This was rut-sex.

Will felt like a ragdoll, dragged back onto that thick cock, before being slammed forward as Hannibal simultaneously fucked up into him with powerful thrusts. The slap of Hannibal’s hips against Will’s ass almost drowned out his gasping moans, but didn’t quite manage it.

Hannibal’s claws dug sharply into his hip, and the scent of blood tickled Will’s senses, somehow sharpening the hunger in his gut. He came again, this time feeling an openness deep in him, his body desperate to fill it with the sucking drag of his hole over Hannibal’s cock, urging it deeper.

He could feel a seeping slickness now between his thighs, over his balls, across his cheeks. It was smeared everywhere, and he could suddenly smell  _ them. _

Not just Hannibal, alpha, and rut, but Hannibal-Will, alpha-omega, rut- _ heat _ .

“Oh fuck-fuck-fuck-fuck-fuck,” He chanted in time with the thrusts. “Feels so fucking good... fuck yesss...”

He was lost in it, and he fucking  _ loved it _ . He arched his hips up, trying to make his ass more easily accessible.  _ Presenting _ .

Hannibal snarled, slamming in that much harder, that much deeper, and purred, “Good omega.”

Will screamed in a whiteout of pleasure, this orgasm hot and sharp, with a heat that he felt in the depths of his soul. He’d pleased his alpha.

“Alpha, please, please-” He didn’t know what he was begging for, but beg he did. Tears were clinging to his eyelashes again, and he couldn’t find it in him to hate himself for it. “More, please - fuck me harder, give me your fucking knot!”

The sharp crack of Hannibal’s hand against his ass caused a quick, sharp orgasm to wash over him at the stinging pain.

As the omega convulsed around his cock, Hannibal growled and tore at the clothing around Will’s arms, and suddenly Will was free. No hold on his neck, nothing binding his hands.

He planted his palms against the bed and shoved his ass back on Hannibal.

“My perfect omega.” Hannibal hissed, pressing down to blanket himself over Will’s back, his sweaty chest coming up against Will’s rumpled up t-shirt, which made the omega whine. He reached down with one hand to try to yank the offending clothing off, but lost his balance as Hannibal continued to pound into him at a punishing pace, only managing to ruck it up to his armpits.

One of Hannibal’s hands slipped under him, and Will thought he would help with his shirt, but instead the alpha merely trapped Will’s nipple between his fingers and pinched, squeezing and twisting.

“Oh,” Will gasped at the feeling, never having paid any attention to his nipples at all before. He came with his eyes wide and mouth open, and then started whining and trying to squirm out of Hannibal’s grip as the man refused to let up his torture.

With a sob, Will realized that again, he wasn’t coming down from his orgasm, rather it had peaked and was dragging. He tried desperately to get Hannibal to let up on his abused tit, but the man simply cupped it, squeezing and pinching at his sore nipple and driving Will wild. The alpha pressed his full weight down as the omega bucked and cried, sobbing under him at the overwhelming feeling of coming for so fucking long.

“Too much, too much,” Will gasped, and somehow he almost managed to squeeze down so hard on Hannibal’s cock that the man was almost pushed all the way out of his body. The alpha growled as he bullied his cock back into Will’s violently spasming hole. “Hannibal  _ please.” _

Will’s placating whimpers did nothing to ease Hannibal’s abuse. The man simply swapped hands to Will’s other nipple, and picked up his pace, fucking Will that much harder.

Sobbing, Will was almost so out of it that he barely noticed the thickening of Hannibal’s knot. Will was sopping wet at this point, stuck on the painful threshold of constant orgasm from the abuse of his chest, and Hannibal was very easily going to slam his thick knot into him.

“Oh god, alpha please!” He screamed, trying to open himself more, bearing down on his alpha’s cock, wanting the thick stretch. He could practically taste it.

Hannibal was purring now, and he buried his nose in Will’s hair before dragging his mouth along the side of Will’s neck.

There was a light prick against his skin, and Will felt his hindbrain kick into overdrive. He tilted his head, baring his throat; his mating gland.

_He_ _wanted it so fucking bad_.

“Please, alpha... Hannibal.”  He begged. There was no rational thought left in him. He just knew that this was his true mate. A mate who would kill for him. Hannibal would provide for him. He would rip their enemies apart and he would feed Will their still warm, bloody hearts. He would breed Will so fucking well and would protect their children. He would give them the  _ world _ because he was a magnificent, monstrous,  _ perfect _ alpha. “I  _ need  _ it. I need  _ you. _ ”

With a frightening growl, Hannibal fucked his knot into Will’s eager hole, and Will moaned long and loud at the pleasurable pain of it, still coming.

Hanging on the precipice, Will waited, not breathing, his whole being divided between the fullness of Hannibal’s knot in him, and the barely perceptible pinch of his canines against his mating gland.

And then suddenly, the heat of Hannibal’s body was gone.

There was a painful tug of the knot against his hole as he was jostled by Hannibal’s abrupt movement, but they remained locked together. Hannibal’s legs were still between his, his hips still against Will’s ass.

But his teeth were  _ not _ in Will’s neck.

Panicking, Will felt his chest constrict. His eyes opened wide, and he pushed himself up to look back at Hannibal.

Hannibal’s eyes looked clearer, the lust that had eclipsed them earlier was a banked fire now. The amusement was gone.

He looked blank.

Will’s hackles rose as he felt an almost thunderous anger rising from the alpha. It was cold and frightening.

He ducked his head, baring his nape in a show of pure, animal fear.

“William.” Hannibal began, his voice completely flat. “What you’ve done is incredibly rude.”

The sinking feeling of dread that had been with him earlier in the night was back now, robbing him of the heat of arousal. If he wasn’t still stuck on Hannibal’s knot, he thought he might try to run.

Though that might have been a death sentence; trying to run from the Ripper after he’d thoroughly pissed him off.

“I-I’m sorry Hannibal.” He stuttered out. “I... I shouldn’t have broken into your home.”

“No, you shouldn’t have.” Hannibal agreed, icily calm. “I can’t imagine why you felt the need to do something so inadvisable.”

The scent of rut was still coming from Hannibal, yet it clearly had been curbed by his release, and Will was baffled by how completely clear-headed he now seemed.

“It was stupid. Really stupid.” Will admitted. “I probably can’t ever apologize enough, but I... I regret my actions. I didn’t mean for... this to happen. I didn’t know you’d be home.”

Hannibal hummed, a displeased, shattering noise. But still, he hadn’t killed Will yet.

“I am a very private person, Will.” Hannibal began, “and I cannot describe to you how little I appreciate having that privacy invaded. Particularly during such a vulnerable time as my rut.”

Will started to apologize again, but Hannibal continued over him, “I have lived this long without having shared my rut with anyone, and have chosen to remain unbonded. It would take a truly exceptional person to earn my interest; someone who I feel I could trust and share all aspects of my life with, and it is  _ not _ a decision that I would choose to make lightly, or in the heat of the moment.”

The beginnings of guilt that he’d felt earlier now blossomed fully into a searing knife to the gut, making Will shiver. Coming down off the endorphins and adrenaline left him feeling wrung out, like he was dropping. And now this?

Hannibal didn’t even  _ want _ to bond with him.

“I-I understand...” Will whispered. “I’m sorry to have put you into that position. I really didn’t mean to.”

Hannibal made a noncommittal noise, before taking a deep, calming breath, and pulled out of Will, knot still half-formed. Will hissed at the pain of it, but didn’t fight it. The fact that Hannibal had managed to get his knot down so quickly spoke of extreme bodily control.

“And I am sorry for my actions, influenced as I may have been by my rut.” Hannibal offered, sliding from the bed. “Perhaps it is best that we both put this incident behind us.”

Still facing away from Hannibal, kneeling unmoving on the bed as the man’s cum slowly streamed from his aching hole and dripped onto his pants, Will felt cold and empty.

“That would probably be best.” He agreed, trying hard not to let the brokenness seep into his tone. He isn’t sure it works.

“If you’ll excuse me, I would like to freshen up while I’m still able.” Hannibal was moving towards his ensuite, “You’ll forgive me for not showing you out.”

Will nodded, still staring down at the bedsheets and refusing to look at Hannibal.

Hearing the door to the bathroom click shut, Will finally moved to start pulling his pants up, grimacing at the ridiculous amount of come still leaking from his hole, and the tacky build up in the front from where he’d come countless times.

Shoving his t-shirt down, Will levered himself off of the bed as quickly as his sore muscles allowed. His shoulder was aching with a dull, pulsing throb, and his triceps hurt from having his hands bound for so long behind his back. The bite mark on his neck, so close to where he’d wanted it, made his heart ache more than anything, and each twinge of it blackened his mood further.

He walked unsteadily and bent to pick up his ruined shirt and jacket, having to bite his lip to hold in the groan at the strain on his lower back and ass.

He’d fucked women before, in the guise of a beta, and had never understood the aversion to the “walk of shame.” He’d always been eager to leave, never wanting to linger beyond the moment that his sexual urges were met.

But this... He practically fled Hannibal’s house, trying to hold in a sob of frustration.

Never in his life had he felt so fucking miserable, so used and broken and  _ omegan. _

He  _ hated _ crying. He hated being this much of a slave to his emotions. He hated that an  _ alpha _ was making him feel this way.

His gait was just as shaky on the way back to his car as it had been when he’d approached Hannibal’s house earlier in the evening, though this time due to his soreness.

He had to ease himself into the driver’s seat, hissing as he did so. He shut the door behind him, and turned the car on to allow it to warm up.

Within moments he was surrounded by the scent:  Hannibal-Will, alpha-omega, rut- _ heat _ .

He wanted to cry, but instead, he snarled, put his car in drive, and started driving home, towards the approaching dawn.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And this was the original planned one-shot ending :D


	2. Two

Will was brooding.

He’d like to pretend otherwise, but.

Here he was, watching as the sun crested the horizon, his dogs yipping and leaping across his property, holding a whiskey tumbler  _ full _ of Jim Beam.

As soon as he’d gotten home, he’d showered and scrubbed until he was rubbed raw, and then he’d poured himself a full glass of whiskey, not just a finger or two, because this was a full fucking glass kind of day, and he wasn’t going to pretend otherwise.

He’d wanted to sleep, but one look at his bed had him furious, and his thoughts hadn’t stopped racing during the whole drive from Baltimore to Wolf Trap.

So now he sat outside in the bitter morning frost, drinking a glass of whiskey, stewing in his thoughts.

He’d gone out on the hunt last night, desperately trying to kill the  _ possibility  _ of Hannibal.

And here he was, mourning the death of it.

Clearly he wasn’t cut out for hunting. He couldn’t even manage to catch his own fucking  _ mate. _

Snarling quietly to himself, Will downed the rest of his glass, then reached fluidly down to grab the bottle resting by the leg of his chair to pour another drink. He rubbed the bridge of his nose, pushing up his glasses.

The concept of mates,  _ true _ mates; soulmates - as the media called them - had always made Will feel an intense amount of disquiet.

Historically, soulmates were the proverbial crux of every great love story, be it fictional or real.

Alpha meets omega, they feel a _ rightness  _ in each other upon first sight - first scent, and they can’t help but to give into it. They are the perfect match, made for one another, incapable of living without a bond, uncontrollably drawn to  _ mate. _ Like a key fitting into the right lock.

More than that; like the universe had converged to create beings who were two parts of the same whole.

Or so it was commonly described.

There was a decent amount of science behind the concept now, some of the mysticism fading into the modern era of medicine and psychology. Studies, publications, experiments, documented cases and first-hand testimony.

Medical science theorized a perfect match of pheromones and genetic compatibility. Psychological circles found that true mates tended to also proport a deeper connection than just surface level biology. True mates appeared to have a remarkable alignment of the mind as well - not perfect mirrors necessarily, but incredibly complimentary mindsets and philosophies and interests.

Only around 3.2% of the population ever found their true mate, though the number was on the rise every year. Geographic distance was often cited as the main reason that mates never found each other; seeing as genetic diversity was likely a key aspect, there was a high probability that many people’s soulmates lived a world away.

Will had lived his whole life happy to be part of a larger statistic. To not be unique, for once.

He had never been particularly interested in discovering the kind of fucked-up his mate would have to be to be a perfect match for his personal brand crazy.

He’d known as a child that he was  _ odd _ , that there was something  _ wrong _ with his thoughts. There was a darkness in him that he had no interest in ever revealing, let alone sharing that darkness with another person.

He had been  _ content _ , alone. Knowing that he was in control of himself. Of his life.

And then he’d met Hannibal Lecter.

What a fucking fairytale moment that had been.

Will had felt goddamn butterflies. He’d felt a surge of joy, of  _ rightness _ .

Horror.

And then he’d shoved those sweet thoughts of  _ want  _ and  _ completeness _ and  _ submission  _ ruthlessly right back into one of the so-called “bone-forts” of his mind, and had continued playing the role of boring, statistically-normal beta. And no one had been the wiser.

Hannibal couldn’t smell him through the scent blockers and the suppressants.

Thank  _ fucking  _ God.

The man had seemed so tediously normal, at first glance. A successful doctor and psychiatrist; refined, polite and deferential to the point of absurdity.

It reeked to Will of something hidden; of a secret shadow lurking just out of sight. His dreams rioted with the imagined darkness that lurked beneath Hannibal’s pristine exterior.

He conjured up images of night-black skin, a forest of sharply tined antlers, a hungry mouth full of teeth, oceans of blood.

A monster, but one he found strangely beautiful.

Will’s reputation as one of the FBI’s best criminal profilers had been rightfully earned, and he knew when to trust his gut.

Every logical part of him screamed to stay as far away from the man as possible, and yet somehow he constantly found himself in his presence.

Being in the alpha’s calm and collected presence soothed his overwrought mind at crime scenes. Talking with him at his office helped Will settle his jittery nerves, wrapped in the blanket of his scent and words, drawn out of the dark fetters of his imagination by engaging conversation and challenging repartee.

Try as he might to maintain his distance, their lives had become increasingly more and more intertwined.

And so Will had tried to do something about it, and it had backfired  _ terribly. _

Will let out a bitter laugh, causing Buster to stare up at him with curious eyes from where he lay on Will’s feet, warming them in the chill morning air.

Hannibal had said he wanted someone who could  _ earn his interest _ , someone who could  _ share all aspects of his life with him. _

Hannibal would only settle for a killer.

A pained grimace swept across Will’s face, and he rubbed at his eyes with his free hand. He was exhausted, and dreaded what his dreams would bring him.

They hadn’t even  _ kissed _ .

He needed to decide if he wanted to try his hand at  _ fishing _ , this time.

But did he want to lure Hannibal out into the open, to be caught out and vulnerable?

Or did he want to catch a  _ mate? _

***

The remainder of Hannibal’s rut had been... a challenge.

The scent of Will had lingered; his normally bland beta scent now livened with notes of slick and sweetness and the merest hints of  _ omega. _ Even when Hannibal had moved to ride out the remainder of his rut in one of his guest rooms, the urge to hunt Will down and breed him had been nearly impossible to resist.

He’d always prided himself on his iron-willed control, particularly in regards to omegas. He typically found them piteous creatures, governed and forced into a uniquely bland existence by society.

The tradition of rearing them as glorified breeding stock had continued well into the modern era, much to the ire of omega activists. Where women had emerged victorious from their struggles in the 20th century, earning the right to vote and join the workforce, the efforts of omegas had fallen somewhat flat in comparison.

They had certain rights and privileges now, whereas before they were traded and bartered and paraded around like prized cattle, their lives completely beholden to the alpha who owned them. They could now legally own property, have a vocation, and manage their own reproductive rights.

That was, assuming they managed to avoid a mating bond, and had parents who were willing to grant them independence upon their age of majority.

Those caveats meant that much of the current population of omegas was still very much viewed as a pretty breeding stock amongst polite society, often sold to the highest bidder for their bride-price by their parents. They were a status symbol, and an almost surefire way of ensuring direct alpha heirs, due to their high fertility rates.

And male omegas were the most rare and sought after of them all. There was a certain desirability that was heightened when there were so few available to be had, making them quite the commodity. More than that, they were often hyper-festishized; a man forced low, made to submit to another, stronger male power. They were often handled more roughly, perceived as being less  _ soft _ than their female counterparts, lending to more brutal play sessions. Often the most perverse and sadistic alphas coveted them most highly, offering top dollar to have them.

They were the ones kept locked away and pregnant, only brought out to impress the guests or to show off at high society functions. They were educated only enough to be able to use the correct tableware, and to know when to laugh simperingly at jokes.

Hannibal did not hate them. He did not detest them. He did not look down at them for something that was entirely out of their control.

But he certainly didn’t want a mate like that.

As easy as it would be for him to control one so completely through their bond that they would never speak a word to anyone about his... predilections, Hannibal felt as though the exercise of keeping a spouse so meek and docile and subservient would be tedious and boring.

And Hannibal  _ abhorred _ boring things.

So, though his person suit would have been much more complete and beyond scrutiny should he have a bonded mate, Hannibal had never felt the desire to enter into such a relationship.

He’d had dalliances, of course. Affairs with sharp and charming beta women, short flings with pretty young alpha men, and quick fuck sessions with the occasional omega who showed a spark of fire and spine. But he’d always kept them well beyond arm’s length.

He had never let anyone in.

He would never leave himself vulnerable like that.

He had never been the slightest bit  _ interested _ .

A knock sounded on the door to his office, drawing him from his thoughts. Hannibal checked his watch, noting that Will had arrived promptly for his appointment, as tended to be the case.

He rose from his chair smoothly, re-buttoning his suit jacket, and running a deft hand along the coif of his hair.

He paused, momentarily taken aback by the gesture. He was preening.

Bemused by the action, but pushing past it, Hannibal went to open the door.

“Hello, Will.” He greeted softly, stepping aside to allow the younger man to enter his office.

Will’s eyes flashed up from the ground, barely high enough to take in his tie, before darting back down.

“Dr. Lecter,” he replied, stepping almost haltingly past Hannibal, shoulders drawn in tight, trying desperately to avoid any form of contact.

Hannibal noted the behaviour with a lack of surprise, dark eyes following Will as he shut the door and followed him back into the room.

He scented the air lightly, noting that any trace of Will’s omega nature was thoroughly hidden by whatever suppressants and blockers the man was on. Hannibal was quite curious as to the brand. He was honestly surprised that his acute sense of smell hadn’t managed to pick up even a trace of Will’s sweeter, natural scent.

There had been great steps made towards the improvement of suppressants and scent blockers, for both omegas and alphas. The desire to be less beholden to the whims of ruts and heats had pushed the research forward, but male omegas were a much more complex subject.

The heavy use of suppressants also tended to have rather aggressive side-effects. Often it was suggested that people go off their suppressants to reset their systems, as Hannibal had done. Hannibal chose to do so much more often than was strictly required, often as much as four times a year, as he didn’t like the way the medication affected his overall biology - it made his instincts duller and less responsive. He was also on a much milder dose and strength of suppressants.

Ideally he would have done without entirely, but the control over his ruts was certainly a bonus, and one did have appearances to maintain. He had never bothered to use scent blockers however. He was very obviously an alpha, and was not ashamed of his biology in the slightest.

Will went straight to the furthest corner of the room, eyeing the ladder almost longingly before drifting to stand in a defensive posture in front of the window, one arm slung across his stomach and clutching at his opposite elbow, back to Hannibal.

“I would like to apologize again for my actions last week.” Will gritted out, his silhouetted reflection visible in the dark window. The words looked almost to pain him as they came out. But they were most definitely sincere.

“It is all in the past, as we discussed.” Hannibal promised, moving to take his usual seat. He unbuttoned his jacket and settled in more comfortably, continuing his observation of the familiar planes of Will’s back. “Though, if it would help you to hear it, I have forgiven you. And I am still deeply regretful of my own behaviour.”

Will grunted, as much of an acceptance of the end to the matter as Hannibal presumed to get, so he elected to move on.

He hadn’t regretted mounting Will. He would have as soon gotten away with killing an intruder as breeding an omega who was ill-fated enough to stumble upon an alpha in rut in their own home. Not only was the law on his side, but Will had seemed entirely eager for it.

The behaviour that had almost driven him to bond Will was most regrettable, however. It was unfortunate that he remained a slave to his biology in this most powerful sense - the need to claim his true mate.

Hannibal had mulled over that detail in the week since their coupling, and couldn’t find any surprise that Will was his match; that whatever it was that science had yet to pinpoint exactly had decided that they were fated to be together. Since their first meeting, Hannibal had frequently mused over a future where he began a romantic relationship with the delightfully dark beta, rather than simply trying to push and prod him into his transformation through their friendship. It might have been an easier method, and he had no compunctions about his attraction to the gorgeous young brunette, but it was also messier.

Getting too close to anyone could prove dangerous.

Will had to be upset by Hannibal’s actions - he’d been denied a bond by his own mate. But it was Hannibal who held all the power here, and Will had  _ certainly _ been rude by breaking into his home, so he felt justified making Will feel guilty. For denying him.

Will was still too much of a threat to his freedom by far.

But it was so lovely to consider the possibilities, now that he was more sure of their compatibility.

“Jack tells me that you’ve had a particularly tough case this week.” The older man began, knowing that Will would likely be content to stew in his overwrought silence for the remainder of the session if allowed. He had only showed up out of a sense of politeness, surely. Unwilling to risk irritating Hannibal further by not showing up to his appointment. “He mentioned that you appeared to have a dissociative episode while recreating a crime scene, but that you refused to let anyone call me. Jack was understandably curious as to why, and stressed that I needed to focus on resolving whatever issues were present between us so that this wouldn’t be a problem moving forward.”

Will rasped out a laugh, “Curious is a terribly  _ pretty _ way of describing Jack’s efforts at digging into the reason behind my unwillingness to call you.”

“Dear Uncle Jack does tend to lose his temper when it comes to you,” Hannibal conceded, “however, he is always rather cordial with me.”

Will shoots him a rictus grin, eyes still skittering to look anywhere but Hannibal. “Perhaps somewhere in his hindbrain he realizes that offending your sensibilities would be  _ very bad _ for him.”

Hannibal allowed the comment to pass unchecked, “I believe we’ve rather diverted from the original question, Will.”

With a sigh, the younger man shoved both hands into the pockets of his brown corduroy pants, and took a meandering walk towards his usual seat, eyes prickling over every single item in the room, the blue of them skipping frenetically.

“Our killer this week is murdering bond-mates.” Will began in a pseudo-chipper voice. He stopped next to his usual chair, staring down into the empty seat. “But he’s having one kill the other. He somehow manages to make the omega kill the alpha of the pair... and then, they kill themselves.”

Hannibal purses his lips, his fingers steepled before him. “I’m presuming there is a way that you know this isn’t simple a case of murder-suicide?”

“Once an accident, twice a coincidence.” Will sat, finally, though he kept his eyes focused on his hands, busily picking at a callus. “5 pairs have turned up dead in the last month, all in the Washington area, all roughly the same stab wounds, probably the same weapon. The alphas also have all shown varying degrees of genital mutilation... with a certain type of trophy taken. All of the omegas have been male.”

“So now it is a case for the FBI.” Hannibal surmised. “And through Jack, you.”

“Yep,” Will says with a small pop, tilting his head to hang over the back of his chair. Hannibal took in the sight of the long, pale column of it and concertedly tried to feel nothing.

“And have you had any insight into the case, despite your apparent dissociation?” Hannibal probed.

Will’s head tipped slowly forward, and his sharp blue eyes finally caught his. A saccharine smile tugged up his sweetly pink lips. “I thought I might have almost caught a glimpse into our killer’s mind, but suddenly I found myself caught up in the recreation of it.

‘A poor, meek little omega, forced to kill his alpha. I could feel myself there, trembling with a knife in my hands. Only I wasn’t trembling from fear, but from excitement. I’d never been more elated in my life. I felt the flesh and bone of the sternum parting, and the hot spray of blood on my face.” He left out how it made him want more, to carve the chest wide open and rip out the heart. “But my fun was unfortunately cut short. What they say about murdering your own bond-mate is true.”

“That it is the worst pain in the world?” Hannibal confirmed, knowing the commonly held understanding of the psychological impact of said action. His eyes watched Will hungrily, feeling the change that had come over him at the remembrance of the scene, of his second-hand murder. Will’s mind had always fascinated him, and watching him revel in the moment of death never ceased to captivate him in it’s beauty.

Will hummed, almost trance-like now. “It’s a pain beyond description, in that it isn’t yours. It’s an echo... And there’s no way to stop it, but to make it  _ all _ stop.”

Hannibal licked his lower lip, leaning forward to brace his elbows on his knees, eyes fixed on Will. “Jack told me that they had to wrest your pocket knife away. That you almost managed to slit your own throat.”

Will shrugged, head turning to the side. Hannibal could see it, the slightly abraded flesh with a slim, scabbed over cut. “I went in too deep, that’s all.”

“That certainly seems to be an understatement, Will. You’ve never acted out a scene before.” Hannibal disagreed. He shifted even more forward, the movement drawing Will’s eyes back to his. “Tell me, who did you imagine it was that you killed, in your vision?”

Will’s nostrils flared, and his blue eyes hardened. “You.”

Hannibal smiled, “And how did that make you feel?”

“Powerful.”

***

Like it or not, Hannibal’s session had given him some insight into the case.

He knew that the killer must be an omega, and that they must fucking  _ hate  _ their mate.

That wasn’t much to go on, but it was a start.

The more pressing matter for Will at the moment, however, was that he had tried to  _ kill himself _ with his own pocket knife in the middle of an active crime scene.

He felt royally fucked up.

His losing time, his sleepwalking, his terrible headaches.

The writing was on the wall, and he had ignored it in his normal, stalwart fashion. But now he was playing in the big leagues, where he was being battered on all sides by the minds of new killers, and more importantly, by whatever games Hannibal was inclined to play with his head. He could hardly catch a break, to relax, to recentre himself.

Will couldn’t be caught with a weakness this bad. It was impacting his ability to think rationally.

His dreams alternated between him murdering Hannibal with his bare hands and teeth, Hannibal fucking him in the most obscenely glorious ways, Hannibal killing and consuming every part of Will, and more recently, them bleeding out all over each other as they fucked. He could never tell if they died before he woke. If the peak was the death itself, or something  _ more. _

In every single one of those instances, Will had woken up hard, or having already come in his sleep. Despite being on suppressants, he was also usually a bit wet.

It was infuriating, not knowing if he wanted to just bond with the man, to turn him in to the FBI, or to kill Hannibal himself.

So, he decided to go the sensible, if slightly suicidal route.

He was going to go off of his suppressants, and hope to God that instead of dying, he would manage to fix his fucked up system.

***

Emmet Graham had been a truly good man.

Will had guessed that he was going to be an omega a few months before he’d presented. He’d always been a weird kid, with an unusual ability to read people and situations. So, he’d managed to read himself.

It was easy enough to extrapolate based on his behaviour and physiological changes, and somehow, his dad had taken his word for it.

Not only that, but he’d agreed to Will’s pleading request to go on suppressants even before he presented. Before he even had his first heat.

They’d found a back-alley doctor, and had gotten a bottle of pills, easy as that, and Will had gone back to work on the docks.

He’d had a mild phantom-heat that summer, and that had confirmed it. So he’d kept working, and kept buying more pills, from a different doctor every time, as they constantly moved across the States.

They weren’t well-off by any means, and God knows that Emmet Graham could have made quite a pretty penny selling Will’s maidenhead, but he didn’t.

He gave Will full licence over himself, knowing his kid was sharp as a tack. He’d filled in the official medical and government paperwork with Will listed as a beta.

No one but Emmet Graham had known Will’s true designation, and that secret had died with him. Until Hannibal.

Will had hidden it well. He still went to a new walk-in clinic doctor every time he needed a prescription renewal, and every time, they eyed him warily and reeled off the same list of potential side-effects and started asking him how long he’d been suppressing his heats. When he inevitably got cagey, they always told him that the older he got, the harder it would get.

At 32, his most recent few suppliers had told him he should check into a hospital for a detox, get himself into a heat ward.

Side-effect of quitting cold-turkey after abusing his system for so long: probably death. Full systemic shutdown.

Will had called in a two week long vacation from work, and made it clear that no-one was to attempt to contact him under any circumstances. He had a surplus of vacation from years of rarely having taken any.

He’d put his pack into a local doggy-daycare, and had gone shopping for essentials. Dry food, easy to eat fruits and vegetables, microwaveable meals, water bottles. Pain medication. Sex toys.

A heavy-duty lock.

He had an old cabin out in the far fields behind his house, one that his neighbour had given to him once he’d gotten too old to maintain it himself. No money had changed hands, no paper trail said he owned the property. He’d never taken anyone there.

That was  _ his _ space, somewhere for him to go to get complete isolation from the world. It was near a gorgeous little brook, filled with trout.

It took a few trips, but Will finally managed to get all of his provisions packed into the small cabin. He left his car in front of his house. He’d left his phone, off, on his bedside table.

In theory, no one could find him out here. They would have a tough time tracking down his body, if he did die out there, alone in the woods.

With a huff, Will finally threw himself down onto the thin, sagging mattress in the cabin’s lone room. Lugging all that stuff had taken him the better part of the afternoon, since it was a 45 minute walk from his house.

He reached over and cracked a water bottle, sitting up slightly to chug it down.

The door was locked with a new padlock, this one on the inside. Will had then hidden the key into a complicated puzzle box, knowing he would be completely lacking in the dexterity or mental processing to open it while in heat.

It was do or die, now.

Cracking open his book, he settled back into the mattress and read for a few hours, quiet and comfortable. He banked the fire late in the evening, and then went to sleep.

He didn’t take his suppressant.

***

The next day, he felt  _ ill _ .

Clammy with sweat, vaguely feverish, and mentally foggy. It was similar enough to one of his phantom-heats that it didn’t worry him too much.

The lethargy kept him bed-bound for the whole day. He tried to read, and managed to catch most of the words, but after a while his hands were shaking too badly to hold the book still enough.

Giving up, he tried to nap.

He woke up again in the pitch dark of night, on fire.

 


	3. Three

“Hannibal Lecter speaking.”

There was an immediate and loud whine from the other end of the line, and Hannibal paused, head quirking curiously. He walked into the kitchen and set his wineglass down on the counter.

“Will?” He hazarded to guess. The call had come from an unknown number. The younger man had ostensibly gone on vacation four days ago and had instructed that no one bother him. He’d called Hannibal personally to let him know, and to cancel his upcoming appointments.

Another whine, this one tapering off into a pained groan, followed by a pitiful whimper, ” _ A-alpha.. _ .”

Hannibal’s lips pressed into a line. “William, are you in heat?”

“Y-yeah... hurts.” Will gasped. “Hurts... god, I-I’m bleeding.”

Hannibal felt his mindset shift, reassessing the situation. He’d easily inferred that Will’s body was likely suffering the effects of a potentially greatly delayed heat. From what he could extrapolate from Will’s predisposition towards avoidance, the omega had likely spent years over-abusing suppressants at the expense of his health. Considering Hannibal's keen sense of smell had never picked up any hint of omegan scent, Will had likely been living fully as a beta for a very long time.

Hannibal wasn’t surprised that Will was nearly incapable of speech, and likely in an extreme amount of pain. His immediate assumption was that this was perhaps merely a ploy- a fisherman dropping a pretty lure. It would have been a heavy-handed tactic, calling his alpha while deep in heat, leveraging his soft omegan whines and begging to pull at Hannibal’s instincts.

Bleeding, however...

“What’s happened, Will?” He urged, allowing a low, subvocal alpha growl to colour his tone.

“...Stabbed,” the omega finally managed to choke out. He keened again, the sound pleading.

“Where were you stabbed? Sternum, stomach, arms, leg - “ Will grunted in affirmation. “You must apply pressure to the wound. Now, are you still in danger?”

A growl greeted the question; “Dead.”

Hannibal found himself grinning toothily. An omega in heat was typically eager to roll over and take anything offered to them. “Good boy, Will.”

The omega made a preening noise, clearly pleased by the praise from his alpha.

“Are you injured anywhere else?” A grunt in the negative. “Very well; I will come to you, but I need you to tell me where you are. Can you do that for me, darling?”

Panting breaths puffed out over the line, before Will managed to attempt to answer. “Cabin... woods... n-near home.”

“Well done, my darling, now - is it accessible by car?” A noise in the negative. “Walking then. 10 minutes? 20 minutes? 30 minutes? 40 minutes? 50 minutes” A noise in the affirmative.

Hannibal was already moving, collecting his medical bag, selecting a number of saline and nutrient IVs to administer, as he would not have time to pick up blood for a transfusion, and he suspected that Will might be suffering from dehydration and malnutrition even after a short 4 days of what was likely a deadly heat.

He also grabbed a specialized face mask.

“Excellent, Will.” He continued, moving quickly to gather other essentials such as foodstuffs and clothing. “Starting at your home, is it North? East?” A smaller noise now. “Due East? North-East? South-East?” Another hiss of confirmation.

“You’ve done well, Will.” He began packing his car. “I am coming to you now. I will be there as soon as I can, but I need you to stay awake, and to continue to put pressure on your wound as best you can.”

He turned his key in the ignition, and enabled his speaker phone. “I will stay on the line and talk with you as I drive. Just keep listening to my voice.”

***

It was easy enough to divide his attention between driving (well above the speed limit), keeping up a constant stream of idle chatter to try and keep Will conscious, listening to his haggard breathing, whining, and continued pleading, and assessing the situation at hand.

It didn’t seem that Will had had ulterior motives when he’d called Hannibal. He was more inclined now to give the younger man the benefit of the doubt.

Though, if Will  _ hadn’t _ come off suppressants with the intent of trying to force a bond with Hannibal, then the question now was; why would Will choose to make such a life-altering decision now?

Hannibal pondered the myriad potential explanations for Will’s seemingly rash and suicidal actions, and surmised that the most likely reason was that the omega had, likely correctly, conflated his recent bouts of illness with the negative side effects of suppressant abuse.

Will had confessed to Hannibal during their sessions about his loss of time, sleepwalking, night sweats, night terrors, and constant headaches.

The doctor had of course been curious as to the cause of such ailments, but Will had played the issues off as stress related to his demanding and oft-times psychologically scarring work with Jack as a criminal profiler. Hannibal had been eager to watch the illness play out and evolve, to see if the mental lapses and fear could be something that would leave Will more pliable and easy to manipulate.

Hannibal had thought it more likely to be a malady of the body, rather than the mind; perhaps something as uncommon as encephalitis, given the list of symptoms, and the sickly-sweet fevered scent that he had caught on the younger man of late. And it could still be, as that was one of the rarer and more debilitating side-effects of extreme overuse of suppressants.

Going off of his suppressants, in that case, was likely Will’s attempt at fixing this long-brewing calamitous reaction to his omegan nature struggling back to the surface after potentially more than a decade of having been shoved down.

Medically speaking, it was a recipe for disaster either way. Will should have been at a hospital in a medically supervised heat ward during his detox, with constant monitoring, medications, and assistance from either a mate, surrogate alpha, or specialized tools.

Absconding to a remote cabin to ride out a long-delayed heat alone was almost a death wish.

Hannibal had pulled Will’s medical records early into their acquaintance. He had learned few things of note, aside from the stab wound in his right shoulder, incurred during his time with the NOPD as a cop, and his doctors’ and psychologists’ notes on his odd diagnosis of broad-scoped autism and ‘empathy.’

He had been listed very unremarkably as a beta.

The fear of receiving treatment as an omega who had been masquerading his whole life as a beta had likely stayed Will from having elected to receive proper treatment. The moment the truth was out, Will’s life would be thrown completely upside down. He would undoubtedly lose his job with the Bureau, and more than that, he would have to reintegrate into society as an omega.

There were stories of outed omegas who had lived their lives in secret. They were never happy conclusions, from an omegan point of view.

So Will had chosen the harder course - to attempt to allow his system the reset that it needed, at the risk of death. In fear of losing his life as he knew it.

And he hadn’t wanted Hannibal involved.

***

As Hannibal approached the cabin, he noted that the door had clearly been shot at, the entire handle blown off with what appeared to be a shotgun shell.

It swung in easily when he touched it. He was immediately treated to the grisly sight of a bloody corpse lying almost in the centre of the room, blood pooling around it.

Bright hunter orange, camo pants, and a shotgun lying at his side confirmed Hannibal’s suspicions. Some unlucky alpha had been out hunting, had caught the delectable scent of an unbonded omega, deep in heat; alone. Unfortunate for him, it had been Will he’d stumbled upon.

This omega was hardly an easy prize.

Said omega was huddled in the furthest corner of the small, one-room cabin. His skin was waxen with blood loss, his usually lustrous curls lank and unwashed. His face was covered in dried blood.

He looked leaner already, haggard with dark circles under his eyes.

“ _ Alpha _ .” Will whispered. He reached out a hand, and likely would have tried to crawl to Hannibal, had he any strength to do so. He still clutched a blood-sodden blanket over the wound on his thigh.

Hannibal moved swiftly to Will’s side, taking hold of his cold, shaking fingers and squatted beside him by the overturned bed.

The needle slid quickly into Will’s arm, and Hannibal listened to the omega’s soft, pleading whimpering as it quieted, and died down entirely.

Righting the bed, Hannibal lifted the unconscious omega easily onto the low cot, and set about unpacking his medical bag.

He set up the IV drip, wiped down the wound site, and began stitching the gash up. He bandaged the wound, and performed a full head-to-toe check for any additional damage, yet noticed nothing other than what he had expected; dehydration and malnourishment - symptoms of Will’s unwise attempt at riding out his heat alone.

Gently, he wiped off the worst of the blood from the rest of Will’s over-warm body, and pulled a clean blanket over him.

Having tended to Will, Hannibal turned to the body. It hadn’t been long, but Hannibal wasn’t sure if the meat was spoiled. He quickly slipped on his plastic suit, and toed the body onto its back.

The hunter’s throat had been ripped out. Hannibal smiled, feeling a strong, dark fondness for Will bloom in his chest.

A knife was still stuck in the man’s ribs. The stomach and intestines likely hadn’t been punctured, then.

Hannibal picked up the dead man’s cellphone laying on the floor, pocketing it, and pulled the knife free. He then bent, and with easy movements, shouldered the corpse, and walked back out into the night.

He couldn’t smell whether the meat was viable, with his specially designed respirator mask filtering out particles as small as pheromones. He couldn’t scent a thing while wearing it.

***

Over two hours later, Hannibal returned to the cabin. He’d gone far enough upwind that the scent of Will’s heat was a mere suggestion on the breeze, so he’d been able to assess the corpse properly. He’d butchered what meat he could, and left the corpse in a remote area in the woods, where it was likely to be picked over by a fair few animals before it was found. He’d mutilated it savagely, and had dragged it through a nearby brook as well, in order to throw off any potential investigations.

A hunting accident gone wrong, indeed.

He’d crushed the microchip in the man’s phone, and dropped it into the brook to be pulled away as well. The last known coordinates would put the hunter’s location a few miles away from Will’s cabin, and no one would know it’s last outbound call.

That dealt with, he’d checked on Will’s still unconscious form, and rekindled the fire, long cold in the small wood stove. He set to work on preparing the meat, along with some of the other food he’d brought, intending to put any extras into the fridge with the provisions that Will had brought.

That done, he’d settled in on one of the cabin’s two chairs, and watched Will’s resting form.

***

Will slept through the remainder of the night, and much of the next morning, thankfully, and Hannibal was sure to monitor his condition and change out his IV bags.

The doctor had used the reprieve to catch a few stolen moments of sleep, and then had gone on a early morning walk out of range of the cabin, to call both his patients and acquaintances, explaining that he needed to cancel their upcoming appointments or social outings for the next two weeks due to an unexpected personal emergency.

He’d also informed Jack, out of courtesy, and to preemptively ward off the man from digging into his sudden absence, and tried to assuage any curiosity and suspicion, to throw him off of the trail of linking Hannibal and Will together.

He had just prepared a light protein scramble when he heard Will stirring.

“Good morning, Will.” Hannibal greeted lightly. His voice was heavily muffled by the mask he still wore. “Please remain as you are; it would not do for you to jostle your wound, or the IV.”

Finishing up the plating, Hannibal brought the food over to Will, who eyed it blearily, then more sharply, his blue eyes cutting up to look at Hannibal’s face, and then across to the now-empty spot where the dead hunter had lain. The floor was likely cleaner now than it had been before the man had gushed his life’s blood across it.

Will’s eyes narrowed, and fixed back on the plate of food. He started to shuffle to sit up, careful, and then accepted the offering from the doctor’s hands.

He took a deep breath as Hannibal watched him, those maroon eyes fixed, burning against his face. “Thank you, Doctor Lecter. For your help... and for the food.”

A delighted grin broke across Hannibal’s face, and he watched attentively as Will began to eat his offering, enraptured. There could be no denying that Will knew precisely what he was eating.

“Not at all, dear Will.” He rose from Will’s bedside, and sat back in his chair, having eaten outside earlier. “You’ve placed yourself in quite a precarious position; I am happy to help you in your hour of need. And unfortunately, you are not out of the woods just yet.”

Will glanced up at him again, the tines of his fork pulling against his bottom lip as he finished his bite. His skin was beginning to flush again with renewed heat, and with a tint of embarrassment.

“I didn’t call you here for  _ that _ .” Will defended, hackles rising. “I’m more than capable of taking care of myself, now.”

Hannibal pointedly did not look at the small pile of pathetic toys on the bedside table, but managed to project an air of incredulity without being rude. “How long, precisely, have you been suppressing your heats, Will?”

The younger man grit his teeth and looked mulishly away. His eyes were already becoming cloudy with a lack of focus. “I don’t. Need. Your help.”

Hannibal hummed, and stood to take away Will’s plate. It was cleaned of food, and Hannibal felt himself preening inwardly. “Perhaps you should like to shower, before your next cycle begins. It should be soon now. Unfortunately the near-death experience and adrenaline spike didn’t manage to suppress your heat for more than a few hours.”

He set the plate on the table, and then returned to Will’s bedside to carefully remove the IV, and to wrap his leg with water-proof plastic. Will staggered as he stood, and Hannibal caught him, gently bracing him with warm hands on his stomach and lower back.

Will groaned lightly, his lips thinned in frustration and pain. He was trying not to lean into Hannibal.

“There is a very high likelihood that you will die here, if you don’t allow me to help you. Either by malnutrition, dehydration, your wound becoming infected, or your body very simply shutting down due to your needs being left unsatisfied.” Hannibal stated plainly. “And I would do so, willingly. But only if you ask it of me.”

Will looked up into his face. There was an emotion there; a curious one. Almost disbelieving, but more... hopeless. “Why?”

Hannibal allowed a soft smile to turn up his lips. “Because the world is a more interesting place with you in it.”

There was a protest lighting Will’s eyes, an incredulity mixed with something like rage.

“So, I’m interesting now?”

Hannibal caught Will’s eye, regarding him very seriously. “Yes, I see great potential in you.”

The darkness in Hannibal purred at the look of intense heat that comment brought out in Will’s eyes, the rage sparking. “Potential.” He bit out, as though his teeth were tearing through the flesh of the word.

Will emitted a low growl, an odd noise to make for an omega on the cusp of falling back into heat, and Hannibal regarded him fondly. There was a very real chance that Will would try to kill him, just as he had killed the hunter who had tried to take him before. He was clearly in no mood to be toyed with by an alpha.

What a glorious creature. It was hardly a wonder that fate had chosen such a dangerously wild omega as his mate.

And certainly he did see the gift here before him, the younger man somehow perfect in almost every way. An empath capable of mirroring the darkness within Hannibal; a psyche capable of knowing and  _ understanding _ him and all of his myriad facets.

Capable of understanding, but not quite there; yet.

His little mongoose could readily prove his undoing, just as assuredly as he could prove his equal.

“I knew before I even presented that my biology would be my curse.” Will spat, “Cursed to see too much, cursed to be so weak, cursed by my  _ nature. _ I’ve spent my whole goddamn life running from it; from my  _ potential _ . And then I met you. At first I thought it was some sort of cosmic joke.” He laughed, a despairing, hollow sound. “I guess you can only run so far, and for so long, before fate catches up.”

Hannibal stepped closer, crowding Will in against the wall, eyes dark and hungry above his mask. He looked like Will’s worst nightmare. “And how much longer do you intend to run, dear Will?”

Will looked strung out, exhausted by his internal battle. His eyes, recently lit with a bright fire, turned away from Hannibal, their light fading as the heat crawled over his senses.

“I’m-” Will shook his head, as though trying to clear the malaise from his thoughts. His body was shaking now, only held upright through Hannibal’s assistance. “I don’t think I can-”

He cut off with a whine, and though Hannibal wished to press for an answer, he could feel the searing warmth of Will’s body through the layers of his clothes, so he backed down, gentling Will with a light massaging press to the nape of his neck.

“Come now Will, we should get you clean while we have time.” He brushed the curls from the omega’s eyes, admiring the flush of his cheeks, the sweep of his eyelashes, the pale pink of his lips. He looked so vulnerable now that his heat was overtaking him again, compared to the ferocity of his features just moments ago. Hannibal found he adored both of these aspects equally. “I will take care of you.”

Will seemed hesitant now, almost meek, and he shied away from the alpha, despite being wrapped tightly in his arms, but he finally acquiesced with a dignified dip of his head, and let Hannibal walk him to the bathroom. Hannibal turned on the shower to let it heat up, and left the room to strip out of his suit.

Now stripped of his own clothing, Hannibal returned and helped Will into the shower, leaning him gently against the wall. Will shivered at the sharp coolness of the tile, but pressed his face into it, likely enjoying the temperature on his heated skin.

Will started to reach for the soap to begin cleaning himself, wobbling slightly and using the wall to stay standing upright, but Hannibal stepped into the shower after him, staying out of the spray to spare his mask, and grabbed the bottle of soap from his hand, “Allow me, please.”

Maroon eyes watched the omega blush as he began to clean the younger man. Society’s prudishness regarding nudity had always amused him, and Will’s reticence charmed him doubly so, as they had already been so intimate.

He tried to make his touch as clinical as possible, but Will was soon squirming in his grasp. He turned to clutch at Hannibal’s shoulders, and whined in frustration at Hannibal’s mask, instead digging his face into the older man’s neck, mouthing and biting messily at his skin as he pressed his need against Hannibal’s hip, rocking slowly.

Hannibal allowed the touch, running a calming hand down Will’s ribs. He dipped Will’s head back to wet his hair in the hot spray, and then began working in a generous amount of shampoo. Will moaned as Hannibal’s dextrous fingers began massaging his scalp, and he leaned heavily against the larger man, nearly boneless at the sensation. “God, that’s good.”

Chuckling softly, Hannibal went on for a bit longer than necessary, before using his grip on Will’s hair to pull him back into the spray. As he coaxed the suds from the wet curls, Hannibal took a moment to admire the long line of his arched neck; it was exquisitely pale and unblemished.

The sight made something dark and jealous rise up in him, and he was glad of the mask on his face.

Getting them from the shower, dried, and back in bed was an exercise in patience, but soon Hannibal had Will laying on his back, knees bent, feet planted on either side of his hips, cheeks terribly red in a heady mixture of shame, wantonness, and heat.

Dark, wet ringlets clung to his skin and fanned out in a halo on the pillow. Will’s eyes were fixed on Hannibal’s hard cock, his mouth opened in a soft pant, nostrils flaring to take in the alpha’s scent, tongue flicking out to taste the air. Hannibal could see the shine of slick between Will’s shyly parted legs.

It was an undoubtedly gorgeous sight.

Hannibal had always admired the raw masculine beauty of the reclusive profiler; he was an easy subject to study, as he frequently refused to look at Hannibal directly during their conversations. Gluttony was one of the doctor’s favourite sins, and he was always ready to indulge, to glut himself on the very sight of him.

Admittedly, he had drawn Will in frequently more erotic poses in the weeks since their ill-fated encounter during his rut. It was a great regret that he hadn’t had the wherewithal to fully divest Will of his clothing at the time. He now allowed his eyes to rove over the omega’s bare skin, eager to capture a memory of the delightful expanse of pale flesh for his mind palace.

His momentary pause to take in Will’s dark beauty seemed to put the omega ill at ease, and Hannibal looked at him questioningly when the younger man drew his knees tightly together, tears beginning to shine in his eyes.

Something like fear was now written across Will’s face. Hannibal wished he could scent Will, to better understand what was happening in that head of his. The odd paths of Will’s thoughts often left him delightfully perplexed, but now was not the time for games.

“I’ve-I’ve never-,” Will stuttered to a stop barely after he’d begun. He rolled to face away from Hannibal, curling up into a protective ball on the bed, arms wrapped tight about his middle.

Tutting softly, Hannibal leaned over the bed and cupped Will’s cheek in his palm to turn the younger man’s face back towards him. He didn’t know what Will could be alluding to, since he’d already been knotted by Hannibal - he could hardly be a virgin at this point, though Hannibal was now curious to know if he had been prior. It wasn’t out of the realms of possibility. A low flare of heat caught in his belly at the thought.

“You’ve never what, Will?” Hannibal coaxed, gently stroking Will’s burning cheek with his thumb. The omega’s blue eyes were welling with tears, and one slipped down his cheek, only to be swept away by Hannibal’s caress.

“Fuck.” Will cursed, still not making eye contact with the older man. His face was lined deeply with pain. “Just... maybe you should leave.”

Hannibal’s lips flattened into a line. He had thought they were past this, that the omega had consented to this plan of action, and that Will was far enough now into his heat that he wouldn’t be able to deny his body’s needs.

But Will never ceased to surprise him.

“You would be resigning yourself to days of pure torment, likely to conclude in an emotionally and physically painful death.” Hannibal reminded him softly.

“That- that might be... unavoidable.” Will choked out with a bitter laugh. His arms squeezed tighter about his stomach.

Hannibal continued to watch Will, maroon eyes curious.

“I’ve never... I haven’t ever had a heat.” Will finally admitted, seeming to shrink into himself, shoulders hunching defensively.

Hannibal’s eyes widened in very real surprise, even as it all clicked into place in his mind.

“That is...” Hannibal was almost at a loss for words at the sheer magnitude of the revelation. “Incredibly irresponsible.”

Will hummed, eyes shut tight, clearly expecting the censure. His breathing was quickening, and he could no longer keep still. “God, I know... I fucking know. I fucked up so bad... I just want it to stop hurting.”

This situation was far more dire than Hannibal had imagined. “Let me help you, Will. I do not wish for you to suffer needlessly. Let me take care of you.”

“O-okay… Okay….” Will sighed, finally relenting as he slipped more deeply into his heat. Rolling over again onto his back, he looked up at Hannibal from under his lashes, irises a barely-there blue ring around his huge and dark pupils. He parted his legs, opening himself to Hannibal’s gaze as he begged; “ _ Hurts _ , alpha. Please?”

And how could Hannibal ever hope to deny that?

Hannibal could feel Will’s eyes dragging hungrily over his form as he moved to kneel between the omega’s invitingly open legs. Will’s pink lips parted as his gaze locked on the alpha’s thick cock, fully hard just from drinking in the sight of the gorgeous man below him. Will started to reach towards him, eager now as his mind clouded fully with need, forgetting his earlier hesitations, but Hannibal tutted lightly. He took both of Will’s hands in his, leaning forward to stretch his larger bulk over Will, pressing his wrists to the sheets.

“I told you I would take care of you, darling boy.” Hannibal chided, and pressed the tip of his cock teasingly against Will’s slick hole. He dragged it against Will’s aching flesh, smirking at how Will whined, trying to buck up, tossing his head and straining his arms, knees closing tight around Hannibal’s hips.

“You oughtn’t move so much, lest you hurt yourself, sweet one.” And with that, Hannibal very quickly and deftly wrapped both of Will’s wrists in a soft set of cuffs. He had taken the time while he’d left Will alone in the bathroom to undress to also install the specialized restraints that he had brought, ones that looped under the mattress to attach both at the wrists and the ankles.

He adjusted the tightness, grinning down at Will as the younger man thrashed ineffectually, snarling up at him, teeth bared. It would turn out poorly for both of them should Will manage to get his hands on his mask; he could hardly provide attentive medical care if he went into full blown rut. And, however he managed to resist biting the omega the first time, he very much doubted he could hold off while breathing in the cloying scent of his mate in heat.

“Fuck.. you...” Will hissed, hips still swiveling desperately, his hole smearing wetly over the tip of Hannibal’s cock, eager to be filled.

A devilish smile stole across Hannibal’s face; “That was rather the idea.”

And with that, he lined up his cock against Will’s opening, and slammed home.

Will’s eyes rolled back as he came, and Hannibal was enraptured by how responsive Will’s body was. He hadn’t taken the time to taste Will’s release the last time, and now he was thwarted by the mask. Absently, he wondered if he would ever get the chance to indulge in that particular flavour.

He set an easy pace to allow for some adjustment, carefully holding Will’s injured leg against his hip as he rocked deep into Will. The omega was incredibly wet already, making the slide and drag of Hannibal’s cock smooth, earning soft, hitching breaths every time he bottomed out.

Adjusting his angle slightly, Hannibal watched Will, the omega blissed out and contented now that he was full, suddenly flash his eyes open in shock. And then Hannibal began pounding directly into his prostate.

Will arched, gasping at each thrust, and squeezed down tightly as he came again. Hannibal marvelled at the sight, eyes rapt on Will’s face, which he hadn’t had the pleasure of watching the last time, as he had taken the omega from behind. He then looked down to the omega’s sweetly pink cock, twitching and oozing out little drops of come as Hannibal fucked him mercilessly through it.

Will slitted his eyes open as he came down from his orgasm, still panting, each breath punched out of him as Hannibal kept up the assault. He looked at Hannibal pleadingly, and tilted his head to the side, showcasing the smooth skin of his unmarked neck to full effect.

“Please, alpha?”

Without the mask, Hannibal would have been lost. He bared his teeth, wanting desperately to sink them deep into Will’s sweet flesh, to taste his thick, coppery blood again, spiced with a flavour that sang to the alpha in a way nothing else in this world ever had. He knew he couldn’t sate himself with a taste; he would never stop tasting Will after that first bite. He would consume Will fully, would fill him up so completely that he wouldn’t be able to breathe but for the feel of Hannibal in him and around him. He would  _ breed _ his perfect little omega over and over, would keep his belly round with pups, would feed him and cherish him and their children. He would raise the world to the ground for them.

Overcome, Hannibal slammed forward once, twice, and bullied his cock in as far as it could go, snarling as he came deep inside of Will. Buried deep, his knot swelled as he started to pump his seed into the omega.

Will keened at the stretch, arching his back and straining his arms, but carefully did not move his hips away from the feeling. He wanted this,  _ badly _ , and shook as he came hard at the feeling of the knot pressing tight inside of him; at the sharp, painful stretch of it.

Hannibal braced himself over Will, breathing heavily, his panting breaths misting the inside of his mask, bangs falling over his forehead to shadow his eyes. They were still fixed on the clean line of Will’s neck.

Will made a happy noise as he came down again, sated by the feeling of a knot inside of him, at the feeling of hot come gushing into him, and the sweet promise of being  _ bred _ by his alpha. His face was flushed and blissful.

But Hannibal knew that the calm was unlikely to last, so he sat back on his heels, careful not to jostle Will’s injured leg too much, and dragged his thumb up under Will’s balls, pressing in against his perineum, rubbing.

Will’s eyes snapped open as he jolted, tugging painfully at the knot between them, whining as he tried to jerk away as Hannibal’s other hand closed around his semi-hard cock.

Hannibal smirked sadistically, and began to slowly shift his hips, rocking his knot gently inside, not pulling or pushing, dragging it just enough to stimulate Will’s prostate where it lodged inside of him.

He then began to play Will’s body with the mastery of an expert; stimulating Will’s prostate externally with his thumb pressed tight to his perineum, fisting his hand along Will’s over-sensitive cock with a steady, inexorable movement, and rubbing his knot against the omega’s sweetspot, all at once.

Will’s face broke.

“Hush, darling. Try to keep still.” Hannibal cooed, not once ceasing his torturous ministrations even as Will jerked and hissed, trying to pull away from his hands and cock. “Take some deep breaths for me, there now. Just let it happen.”

Stuck on Hannibal’s knot, hands bound above his head, Will had no recourse but to accept the treatment. Hannibal lavished praise on him as the omega sobbed into completion, his whole body shuddering, hole squeezing like a vice around the knot inside of him, milking out more hot come.

Hannibal let up for a moment, rubbing at Will’s flanks, gentling him as he recovered his breath.

“You’re being so good for me, darling boy.” Will’s eyes opened at the praise, and he grinned tiredly at Hannibal. “I know I’m asking much of you, but I’m going to have to ask you to continue to be good for me, my sweet little omega. I wanted to fuck you for much longer before I knotted you, but you were so very tempting. Your heat will be very painful for you unless I attend very diligently to your needs, and though it might seem overwhelming, you need to release the tension in your body by coming.”

He dragged his hand back down between Will’s legs, pressing his thumb tight against his perineum again. Will started shaking his head, tears forming in his eyes, a broken whine of “ _ Alpha _ ” breathing through his lips.

“I know it feels like too much, but you can take it for me, can’t you, darling _?” _ Hannibal smiled at the uncertain look on Will’s face. He didn’t want to disappoint his alpha. “I will take it easier on you this time; I realize your cock is likely quite sensitive now.”

Hannibal’s free hand glided up Will’s stomach, away from his mostly soft cock, and settled on the omega’s smooth chest, thumb and index finger circling his nipple.

Will gave him a pleading look, but lay still, supine before his alpha’s whims. Hannibal would stay knotted for approximately twenty more minutes.

He intended to make the most of it.

Beginning slowly, he worked Will over with gentle movements. He rubbed his thumb in slow, digging circles against Will’s perineum, the motion eased by the thick layer of slick coating the skin all around Will’s entrance. He leaned his pelvis in close, rocking his hips up into Will’s ass, his knot just barely tugging on the taut, reddened skin of his hole. The thick bulge of it was flush against Will’s prostate, crushing it and dragging against it constantly.

The fingers around Will’s nipple swirled in lazy circles to start, nails sometimes coming into play to drag against the blush-coloured nub. Hannibal was nice enough to alternate between the two peaks, teasing them both into tight hardness.

Will was rocking back into it now, the pleasure growing in him, but Hannibal kept his pace slow, teasing almost.

Tightening his fingers around Will’s nipple, Hannibal watched Will greedily, eager to witness him come undone again. He began twisting his fingers, sharpening the pain, ratcheting the intensity up and up and up.

“That’s it, darling.” He crooned, sighing at the feeling of Will tightening gradually on his knot. “You’re almost there.”

Now, if he did this just right...

Will keened as he began to peak, back arching painfully, his still soft cock letting out a small trickle of come. His hole clenched more insistently around Hannibal’s knot, becoming almost painfully tight.

Hannibal didn’t let up. He kept squeezing, pinching and twisting at his abused nipples, kept rubbing and massaging at his perineum, and kept rocking his knot against his prostate.

Will screamed.

Will screamed and screamed and cried and whimpered, and finally, quieted. Still coming as Hannibal worked him through it.

His eyelids fluttered, his body convulsing in small, intermittent tremors, and his cock continuing to push out small spurts of cum. Slickness seeped out from the tight seal of his stuffed hole.

He came, and came, and came, breathing ragged, completely insensate, until finally, Hannibal’s knot was pushed from Will’s body, softened enough to be forced out by the fervent squeezing of his hole as Will clenched up constantly in orgasm. The feeling of power in Hannibal at the sight of Will’s gaping, sopping wet hole was overwhelming.

Hannibal withdrew the rest of his cock slowly, hungrily eyeing the hot rush of cum that flowed out of Will’s entrance, the hole struggling to close, unable to keep the fluid inside. He trailed a finger through it, rubbing at the abused rim with two fingers before shoving them inside.

Will felt sublime, drenched in Hannibal’s seed. It continued to leak out around his fingers; the amount of cum too much to be contained inside.

He sighed, wishing desperately once again that his mask was gone. How he would have delighted in such a feast.

“So perfect for me, darling boy.” He praised, leaning forward to rest his forehead against Will’s. The omega’s eyes were closed, his breathing finally evening out. “Rest now; I will be here when you need me again.”

***

A sleepy whine roused Hannibal from where he was sitting, reading  _ The Symposium _ .

Hannibal quickly closed the well-loved paperback, noting his place easily in the chapter of Aristophanes, and strode towards the bed, stripping off the thick navy robe he’d brought to ward off the November chill. He took up the water bottle he had set out on the small kitchen table.

Hannibal had left one of Will’s hands bound above him, and Will had curled up on his side to nap, resting his head on the bicep of his extended left arm.

He leaned over Will and caught his loose hand, which had been reaching for him, for his face; for the mask. He smiled softly down at the omega.

Making a soothing noise, he slotted easily in behind Will, pressing against the hot line of the younger man’s back. He shifted the empty cuff along the bed to join the other one in the far corner, and gently restrained his right arm as well, leaving Will bound on his side, but comfortable.

Hitching up Will’s injured right leg, he slotted his own leg between, brushing against the incredibly slick skin of the back of the younger man’s thighs. He trailed his thumb up along Will’s inner thigh, over the curve of his ass, and pulled the plump cheek aside.

It was stunningly easy to notch his cock up against the sopping wet hole, the thick tip slipping oh-so effortlessly into the greedy clutch of Will’s loosened rim. The angle made it tighter, and he had to thrust in repeatedly, gradually fucking up into the omega, earning him a series of soft “unh, unh, unh’s” for his efforts.

Bottoming out, he stilled, leaving his cock motionless in Will’s clenching body. He uncapped the water bottle that he had brought over, and pressed it to the omega’s parted lips. “Drink this, Will. We must keep you hydrated.”

Will drank hungrily, messily, and Hannibal soon took the emptied bottle away, tossing it carelessly to the floor. He then wrapped his arm around Will’s middle, pressing his right hand to the flat skin of his stomach. The other arm he forced up under Will, bringing his left hand up to wrap around the younger man’s neck; just holding lightly, for now.

Will let out a contented sigh, relaxing fully back into Hannibal’s embrace, squeezing hungrily around the thickness inside of him.

Hannibal leisurely slid his cock back out, and then just as gently fed it back into Will’s hole, luxuriating in the hot clutch of Will’s inner walls. He tilted his hips just slightly, and Will tensed up in his arms, groaning. “Fuck yesss...”

“There we are.” Hannibal agreed, and kept up the slow drag, rubbing the length of his cock indulgently over Will’s prostate.

Will shifted slightly, attempting to push his ass back against Hannibal, clearly unimpressed by the pace. Hannibal tightened both of his arms, his left hand squeezing tight around Will’s neck, expertly cutting off the omega’s airway.

Letting out a choked whimper, Will continued to hump back against Hannibal, careless of the lack of breath in his desperate chase for release.

Hannibal didn’t let up, merely continued his unhurried pace, hand still wrapped tightly around Will’s throat.

The alpha didn’t stop as Will came.

Finally, the omega stilled, near to the point of passing out, sated for the moment. He went lax in Hannibal’s arms, and the doctor released the pressure on his airway. Will gasped in heaving breaths, even as he murmured out a quiet string of,  _ “Thank you alpha, thank you, thank you.” _

Hannibal continued to fuck up into him, pace sedate, cock dragging out inch by inch and pressing back in, never letting up on the omega’s sweet spot.

While Will was still coming down, Hannibal began to rub his right hand up and down Will’s stomach, admiring his smooth skin, and feeling at the muscles shifting just below the surface. The omega really was in excellent shape, which would make this much easier.

Ignoring Will’s twitching cock, he instead carefully measured his way along Will’s abdomen, just below his belly button, and gently began to press his fingers in, rubbing in small circles; testing, feeling, and waiting...

Will jerked, his head tipping down to look at Hannibal’s right hand, “w-w-what?”

Hannibal hummed in satisfaction, “That, my dear Will, is your prostate.”

The younger man made an incredulous noise, and began to squirm, overwhelmed by the dual sensation of having his prostate milked from the inside and out.

Keeping up the gentle circular massage on Will’s lower stomach, Hannibal began tightening his left hand at his neck again, still maintaining the slick thrust of his cock inside of the omega’s eager hole.

“You were being such a good boy for me before, my darling.” The alpha chided, his fingers closing tighter and tighter. “If you keep misbehaving, you’ll force me to assume you enjoy being punished.”

Will keened, an ecstatic noise, and he choked out a breathy “ _ Please _ !” as he came, clamping down hard around the cock buried inside of him.

The alpha sighed at the fresh gush of hot slick, leaking so heavily from Will now that Hannibal’s lower stomach and upper thighs were coated in it. The slap of their skin as Hannibal fucked up into Will was sounding dirtier and dirtier, Will’s hole squelching as Hannibal pounded sedately into it.

Hannibal groaned, but didn’t come.

This time, he intended to milk Will fully before he knotted him.

His pace unchanged, Hannibal kept feeding his cock up into Will’s spasming hole as the omega came again and again, the clench of it almost unbearable, and frequently he had to force it in harder, bullying up into the sopping wet vise that threatened to force him back out.

Massaging at Will’s stomach caused a near constant stream of cum to leak out of the man’s quiescent cock, the fluid pushed out by the constant stimulation of his prostate in a lazy, sticky stream. It dripped over the skin of Will’s stomach and thigh to pool wetly on the bed.

The overstimulation had the additional effect of causing Will’s slick production to ramp up; Hannibal had only ever had the pleasure of fucking a woman who was capable of squirting once, and by now, Will felt similarly wet. They were both positively drenched where Hannibal’s hips met Will’s ass, and his cock faced barely any resistance as it pumped in and out of the omega’s hole.

Normally a very fastidious person, Hannibal had nevertheless always revelled in the sheer overindulgence that made good sex, loving the sloppy mess of bodily fluids. The carnality and raw physicality of blood, sweat, cum, slick, and tears brought out a wildness in him that he delighted in embracing.

Will continued to writhe on his cock, trying to pull away from the overwhelming pressure on his sensitive prostate, so Hannibal kept up a constant light hold on the omega’s neck, choking him until his constant whining squeaked to a stop, before letting him free to catch his breath for a few moments, only to squeeze his fingers around his throat again.

Will made a happy sound as he came again, a sing-song hum of pleasure that made Hannibal’s heart clench. “That’s it, my darling boy. You take it so very well. You’d take anything I gave you. You’d beg me so sweetly for it.”

“ _ Yesss...” _ Will hissed, cumming again with a sweet gasp of pleasure, pressing his neck forward, into Hannibal’s hand. “Want it, alpha. Want your knot. Want you to  _ breed  _ me, please?”

Hannibal’s hips stuttered. “Oh, Will.”

There was no holding back the tide now as Hannibal plunged his cock up into Will’s slick hole uncontrollably, hips pounding up into the soft swells of the omega’s ass. His right hand moved to lock around Will’s hip, using the leverage to drag him back down onto his cock, needing to be deeper.

Despite the slick mess of Will’s hole, Hannibal’s knot lodged deep, and he groaned as it swelled, “I would give you the world, if only you would ask.”

Will hummed happily, content with the knot locked inside of him and the sweaty weight of Hannibal wrapped around him.

The older man watched as Will nuzzled down into the bed, worn out and sated for now; he’d gotten exactly what he’d wanted from the alpha.

With a thought that wasn’t quite tinged with worry, Hannibal wondered just who was in control of the situation here, and whether it would be within his ability to escape this unscathed.

 


	4. Four

Will felt like complete, utter, absolute shit.

When he’d woken up in the hospital after being stabbed when he was still a cop, he’d at least been on morphine, and he’d been able to check himself out of the hospital the same day.

This though...

He felt like someone had beat him within an inch of his life. And then had been nice enough to wrap him in a deliriously soft, warm cloud.

Blinking his eyes open, he was immediately able to deduce that he was in Hannibal’s house, laying on a luxurious but unfamiliar bed. The ceiling was covered in a dark green brocade pattern, with an ornate golden light fixture dangling from the centre of it. For a ceiling, it was one of the most gaudily European things he’d ever seen.

How he’d gotten there was completely beyond him. His memories were a blur of heat and flesh and sex and darkness.

_ God _ , the sex. He didn’t dare linger too long on those thoughts.

Will tried to move his head to look around, but his eyes squeezed shut at the extreme pain that shot through him at the motion. He bit out a curse, his parched throat emitting barely more than a dry, inarticulate rasp.

There was no doubt in his mind now that he would have died without Hannibal’s intervention, if he felt this terrible after having been in the care of a talented doctor who also happened to be a thoroughbred alpha.

Opening his eyes again, he noted that he was, once again, hooked up to an IV, likely in one of Hannibal’s guest rooms. He wondered how long he’d been out - how long it had been since he’d started his heat.

Fuck, he was thirsty. And so very,  _ very _ hungry.

On the bedside table he spied a glass of water, and a little dish full of blue pills. Hoping to God that it was pain medication, he rolled over with a gasping moan of pain, and swallowed them down eagerly.

Water had never tasted this fucking good.

Throat somewhat soothed by the tepid liquid, Will fell back onto the bed, exhausted by the simple act of propping himself up enough to drink. He drifted, and was woken an indeterminate amount of time later by a soft knock on his door.

The door opened before he could respond, his host likely not having thought he was awake and aware yet, and Will couldn’t help the blush that stole over his face just looking at the older man as he stepped into the room.

Delirious as he had been during his heat, there were still flashes of searing hot memories playing eagerly in his thoughts, brought inexorably to the fore of his mind at the sight of the alpha. It was startling how much he remembered, in such clear, unrepentant detail. The scent of him alone made Will feel a flutter low in his belly, despite being utterly exhausted and sore.

Hannibal looked like complete shit, too. The sight managed to make Will feel uneasy; it looked  _ wrong _ on the normally well-put together alpha. He usually seemed so unassailable; perfect and well-kempt.

Dark smudges made his eyes appear more sunken than usual. His hair, though washed and perfectly coiffed as usual, was lacking a certain amount of shine, and Will couldn’t quite tell through the layers of his suit, but he looked as though he’d lost weight.

Guilt curled in his gut, replacing the unwanted stirrings of arousal.

“Good afternoon, Will.” Hannibal greeted, just as cordial as always. “I apologize for intruding, but I wanted to check in on you. How are you feeling?”

Will let out a rasping chuckle. “Like death warmed over. Though I believe that I have you to thank for the fact that I’m alive at all, Doctor Lecter.”

Hannibal’s lips pursed in a slight moue of displeasure, no more than a subtle micro-expression, likely at the use of such a formal address. Will hated that he could read the other man so easily.

“Unfortunately you will likely feel that way a while longer.” Hannibal stopped at Will’s bedside, and took his limp wrist to hand, measuring out his heartbeat, and rested his other hand against Will’s forehead, checking his temperature. “Your body is very weak, and it was rather touch and go after your heat broke. I thought it would be best to bring you to my home, as I have more tools here to provide the care that you need. I presumed you would prefer not to be checked into a hospital.”

“God, no. You presumed correctly.” Will sighed in relief. He looked up, meeting Hannibal’s eyes. “I can’t begin to thank you enough, Hannibal. You’ve done...  _ more _ than enough for me, more than I’m comfortable accepting, if I’m honest - god, your patients-”

“My assistance was given freely, Will.” Hannibal cut in, heading off Will’s self-castigation. “At no point did you force my hand, and it would be dishonest of me to say that I didn’t enjoy helping you through your heat.”

Will’s face flushed again, his active imagination not sparing him from embarrassment as he easily and vividly recalled just how much Hannibal had seemingly enjoyed himself; repeatedly and creatively.

Even when the alpha hadn’t been able to keep up with the overwhelming demands of Will’s heat, not being suffused with the driving urges of rut himself, Hannibal had adapted seamlessly to meet Will’s needs. The younger man had gone from not having ever had penetrative sex, to being knotted, to having a full fist tucked up inside of him as he begged for his alpha to keep him full.

Will wanted to feel mortified, but instead he only managed to feel a deep-seated satisfaction. It was disconcerting, to say the least.

His heat had thoroughly set him back, emotionally. He felt the instinctual need to trust Hannibal - the alpha had proved himself an amazing partner; giving and selfless and ready to drop everything to keep Will alive.

The alpha had dealt with the body of a man that Will had killed, and Will had  _ knowingly _ accepted the meals that Hannibal had made from his flesh, pleased in a primal way at his alpha’s ability to provide.

Will wanted so much to just give in. It wouldn’t be any hardship at all; to sink into the darkness, to embrace Hannibal fully, to finally let go and allow someone into his life.

To stop denying himself.

After years of living almost like a hermit and masquerading as a beta to avoid tangling himself up in the mess of society, Will could only imagine the sheer indulgence of sharing a life with Hannibal. Well fed, pampered,  _ spoiled. _ And if their sex to date was anything to judge by...

Will tamped down on those thoughts, hard. He wasn’t quite ready to throw all of his morality away just yet, let alone for something as crass as a good fuck.

“Regardless, thank you, Hannibal.” Will finally managed, trying to pull his thoughts together. “You must need to get back to your practice though, and I really shouldn’t keep abusing your generosity. I’m sure I can manage from here.”

“I really must disagree, Will.” Hannibal argued, voice calm and clinical, clearly in doctor-mode. “You came very close to death, and you still require medical attention. I will of course not keep you here against your will, but I would feel much more at ease knowing that I can monitor your health, and that you are eating proper meals and staying hydrated. I very much doubt that you could presently manage to walk, let alone prepare meals for yourself; even those detestable microwaveable monstrosities that you seem to believe are fit for consumption.”

Will struggled desperately to think of a way to argue with that logic, knowing that he could barely raise his head, let alone try to feed himself. Another flash of memory caught him off guard, and he coloured at the remembrance of the alpha feeding him by hand, Will sucking eagerly at his fingers, taking anything that Hannibal provided him.

“Unless, of course, you do wish to be checked into a medical facility.” Hannibal offered, knowing he’d won.

The younger man deflated. “If... if you really don’t mind...”

“Not at all, dear Will.” Hannibal soothed, turning for the door. “I’m sure you must be starving; the last few days of your heat proved much more difficult to get you to eat, and you have been out for the last two days. I will bring something up.”

Will thanked the man weakly, wondering how on earth he had gotten to this point in his life.

***

Hannibal was a master at adapting.

Dropping everything and remaining at Will’s side for 11 days had not been an anticipated event, and there was little Hannibal could have done to mitigate and plan for it. It was a weak blade, that did not bend.

Returning home, he had carried the unconscious omega over the threshold. He had stripped them both, and had taken great care in gently cleaning the younger man, drying him tenderly before tucking him into the guest bed.

He carefully cleaned and rebandaged the livid stab wound on Will’s thigh, and then had gone to a pharmacy to get the appropriate antibiotics to fight the minor infection that had taken root, worried that Will’s compromised immune system wouldn’t be able to survive the fight.

He had done everything he could to make certain that the omega woke again.

Looking down at his thin, haggard form, scarcely breathing, pulse erratic, Hannibal felt a fear the likes of which he hadn’t experienced since he was a boy.

And then he had dealt with the carnage of his kitchen.

Spoiled fruits and vegetables. Meat, painstakingly won, butchered, and prepared, rotting in his fridge. The living wall in his dining room was brown, the plants and herbs wilted.

With bustling efficiency, he cleaned it all out. And then he went shopping.

He bought enough to restock his depleted stores, and ingredients for a light soup; something easy to digest. He had to purchase chicken, from his local butcher.

That set to cook, Hannibal had begun the process of calling all of his patients, informing them that he would be returning to his practice, but with greatly reduced hours. Managing to find convenient times for all of his appointments took up the better part of an hour.

And then he’d had to call Jack.

“Hannibal.” Jack greeted, something like relief in his voice. “Good to hear from you. I hope everything is okay?”

“Hello, Jack.” The doctor greeted back. “Yes, thank you for asking, everything is under control now. I received your voicemails. My apologies for not getting back to you sooner; I’ve only just returned home.”

“Can’t be helped,” Jack allowed, “You’re back now, and that’s what matters. I could certainly use your help, if you can come down to the lab. We have 6 new bodies, and no new leads since Will disappeared suddenly. You haven’t heard from him, have you?”

“I’m afraid that I will be tied up until sometime tomorrow afternoon,” Hannibal said, voice apologetic. “Once my affairs have been set in order, I am at your disposal. And I’m afraid I cannot speak to Will’s absence.”

Jack made a frustrated noise. “He was supposed to be back from his ‘vacation’ a few days ago now, and I’m starting to get worried. I was hoping he’d been in contact with you, or anyone, just to let us know he’s still alive.”

“Will has always valued his privacy. We should allow him a few more days, before we get too worried.”

“I suppose you’re right. Still, if you hear from him, let me know, just for my peace of mind.” Jack requested, the stress evident in how haggard he sounded. “I’ll see you tomorrow, then?”

“Yes, you should. I will call when I’m on my way over.” Hannibal promised.

“Thank you, Doctor Lecter.”

That dealt with, Hannibal began the process of finding out where Will had housed his dogs.

***

“Uncle Jack has been very curious regarding your whereabouts.” Hannibal began conversationally, setting down a hearty dinner of braised veal shanks and roasted root vegetables. The weather was getting cold, this close to Thanksgiving, putting Hannibal in the mind of rich, slow roasted food. “I think you ought to reach out, if only to prevent him from launching a full-scale manhunt.”

Will looked up at him, taking his words into consideration. He watched as the doctor sat at the head of the table, unbuttoning his garish suit - slate gray with burnt orange plaid shot through it, accented with a matching orange tie and pocket square. It was both bizarrely festive, and bizarrely fashionable. Will could never have hoped to pull it off, but somehow the eccentric alpha managed with aplomb.

He smiled in thanks as Hannibal began to serve him; he had been trapped in the house all day while the meat had been roasting, teasing him with the scent of it, and he was salivating in anticipation. “I suppose I do at least owe him a call, though I’m not sure how eager I am to go back to work.”

“Nor should you be,” Hannibal concurred, serving himself. Will waited for him to take the first bite, and then dug into his own meal. He allowed a light hum of pleasure to slip out, knowing it would pay a high compliment to the chef. That, and it was really fucking good. Hannibal offered him a small smile. “I would advise another three or four days of bedrest, with some smaller periods of light exercise mixed in. I thought you might wish to go visit your dogs, perhaps tomorrow?”

Will felt his eyes light up. He’d been cooped up for 3 days in Hannibal’s home, recovering and sleeping the days away, being served each meal in bed by a very, very accommodating host. Hannibal had apparently modified his work hours to be able to prepare a hearty breakfast before he left for the day, with an extra long lunch to come home to prepare something light for a midday meal, and he tended to arrive home around 5:30pm, giving him plenty of time to devote to making lavish dinners. This was the first time that Hannibal had suggested that Will might join him for dinner in the dining room, and Will had jumped at the chance for a change in scenery.

Will felt beyond pampered, and was all the more wracked with guilt for it.

“That-that would be nice.” With an effort, he didn’t bring up the possibility of repaying the alpha for footing the bill for the kennel service, since Will had failed to pick them up at the agreed upon date, and now required additional time. Money seemed almost of no consequence to the older man, and though it was a sore point for Will to accept his generosity, he knew it wasn’t a fight he couldn’t hope to win with the man.

Who would have thought that the Chesapeake Ripper was so gracious and conscientious. The easy way in which Hannibal provided from him also... made him feel so terribly warm; cherished.

He wanted to run from the feeling.

“Would we be able to stop by my house afterwards? I’ll need to grab my phone to call Jack.” Hannibal had been by his house a few times on his own, stopping in to check on the state of the place, and to bring Will some of his more comfortable clothes. He had also visited his dogs, anticipating Will’s relief at hearing they were well.

It really was too much.

“Certainly,” Hannibal agreed. “Though we may have less time, depending on if our killer has been active again. Jack may call me in.”

Will sighed, “There really have been no new leads in my absence?”

Hannibal aimed a conspiratorial smile at Will over his wine glass. “It appears as though the esteemed Behavioural Analysis Unit is at a loss when it comes to functioning without you. It’s a wonder how they managed to solve crimes at all before you began lending your insights.”

Huffing in amusement at Hannibal’s dry tone, Will shook his head. “I’m sure they would manage well enough without me. Jack has just developed the unfortunate habit of leaning heavily on my so-called ‘gift’ for the more difficult cases.” He grimaced. “He thinks that I’ll be able to show up at a scene and sniff out the killer like a favoured bloodhound, easy as you please. But it’s never as simple as that. I don’t just magic the answer out of thin air; I read whatever evidence is available, and if there isn’t much to work with, my parlor tricks don’t tend to impress.”

Hannibal’s eyes narrowed at the flippant way in which Will referred to his gift. “Your skills with reading the available evidence is still leaps and bounds beyond the abilities of the rest of the most talented members of the BAU, and you really ought to give yourself more credit. You are a uniquely capable individual, and you never cease to impress me with your insights and general intelligence.”

A light flush stole across Will’s face, and he ducked his eyes back down to his plate. “You flatter me unnecessarily, Doctor.” He said, unaccountably embarrassed by the alpha’s high praise. “Maybe save the compliments for after I’ve made any headway on the case.”

Hannibal gave a non-committal hum, and set his cutlery down on his empty plate. “We shall have to wait and see what evidence you can discover. I have every confidence that you will uncover some clues yet unseen.”

Will returned a non-committal noise of his own, and took a final sip of his water.

“If you are finished, perhaps you should like to retire to the study while I tend to the dishes.” Hannibal suggested lightly. “And I will bring dessert through shortly. I have made us a dark chocolate mousse with a pomegranate reduction.”

Despite having just eaten his fill, Will couldn’t help his eager noise of interest. Hannibal now had the dangerous knowledge of Will’s secret infatuation with chocolate. “That sounds wonderful. Thank you.”

“Not at all, dear Will. Now, should you like help getting to the study, or do you think you can manage?” The alpha stood from his chair, moving towards Will, assisting him in standing with a gentle hand under his elbow.

Will turned up an appreciative smile, but otherwise shook his head at the offer. “I’ll give it a try myself.”

“As you wish.”

Will watched as Hannibal took up their plates in one hand with the practiced ease of a fine dining server, hooking both of their glasses easily in his other hand. As the man disappeared into the kitchen, Will began his slow trek towards the study.

The room was cool, shadows lurking in the corners of the large space. The light switch by the door offered up illumination from a series of heavily covered sconces that ran across the walls of the room at regular intervals. They emitted a warm and yellowed glow through the thick glass covering them, but didn’t quite manage the pierce the shroud of darkness that filled the chill air.

With a halting step, Will shuffled along the wall of the room, fingers trailing the wood-grain of the paneling, trying not to disrupt the various oil paintings that decorated the space. He stopped before the unlit hearth, took up a box of matches from the mantle, and allowed himself to slide in a controlled fall to the floor.

He had a small fire built by the time Hannibal returned to him, the warmth of it growing by the minute as it consumed more and more of the thick logs that Will had fed it. Hannibal offered him a warm smile as he approached, holding a tray filled with their sweet desserts and bitter coffees.

Surprisingly, the older man set the tray down on the floor beside Will, before deviating towards a low settee to grab a thick throw blanket, which he draped snugly over the younger man’s shoulders.

Hannibal then took a seat on the floor beside Will, looking for all the world as prim and proper as if he had sat on a throne. He then turned to Will, lifting a plate of mousse from the tray to offer the younger man, a pleased expression on his face.

“Thank you for building the fire, Will. I should have thought to do it myself.”

Will huffed a small laugh, which turned quickly into a low groan of pleasure as he took a bite of the mousse. He licked at some of the sticky pomegranate sauce that clung to the spoon. “Heaven forbid you be anything less than a perfect host, Doctor Lecter.” He teased. “I may be an invalid, but I’m perfectly capable of managing some things on my own.”

He snuck a low glance at the older man, noting with no small amount of smugness that the alpha’s maroon eyes were fixed on his lips, eagerly watching as the omega took another bite of the dessert, sucking on the spoon before licking his lips to chase after the chocolatey flavour. His gaze was sharp and full of hunger, flickering wickedly in the warm light of the fire.

Will knew he was playing a dangerous game, but he was finding it harder and harder to care. And besides, he did love teasing the alpha - Hannibal was always so well controlled and buttoned up behind his person suit. It was invigorating to be able to peer behind the veil to see the apex predator beneath.

And to know that the monster was completely smitten with him.

Will could probably be as rude as he pleased, and not suffer any of the  _ normal _ consequences. He was half tempted to push the serial killer, just to see how far he could go, and what sorts of retribution the man’s ire would drive him to.

Hannibal was nothing if not creative; he could surely deliver more  _ cunning  _ types of punishment than merely death.

Shaking himself from that line of thought, Will looked back into the fire. “What I wouldn’t give for some whiskey.”

Hannibal stilled beside him at the wistful words, before turning more fully to face Will. He set down his own dessert plate, and gently took Will’s from him as well.

Suddenly ill-at-ease, Will’s eyes shot up to look into Hannibal’s, not enjoying the blankness of the man’s expression.

“I know I’m not allowed to drink while on these antibiotics, Hannibal...” He began, then stopped, biting his lower lip, blue eyes darting back and forth to look between the maroon ones regarding him. They were deceptively calm. “Hannibal... what-”

“It is very likely that you are pregnant, Will.”

The words dropped from Hannibal’s lips with a leaden weight of certainty that Will  _ hated _ .

“Likely?” Will began, incredulous. “Likely?!” His voice rose in pitch and volume. “How the  _ fuck _ is it  _ likely _ , Hannibal?”

The alpha still wore an expression of complete stillness, taking Will’s outburst in stride, likely expecting the reaction. “It was certainly unlikely to occur, being that your heat had a very high potential to be completely barren due not only to your sustained and dangerous abuse of suppressants, but also the fact that you had never had a heat at all previously. But there was a chance, however slim. And for that, I apologize for my oversight. I should have thought to use protection, or I should have administered a birth control shot before I assisted you with your heat. It was irresponsible and arrogant of me, and now you are left with the consequences of my actions.”

Will’s face was still a picture of disbelief. “There had to be a less than one percent chance! How could this possibly - fuck!” He clutched his head in his hands, fingers snaring and pulling at his curls. He groaned quietly, before letting out a disbelieving, slightly manic laugh. “I don’t know why I’m surprised. Of course this would happen to me. Maybe I should be more surprised that it didn’t happen the first time you fucked me.”

Will knew he was pushing it with the language, but Hannibal remained stalwartly calm in the face of Will’s reaction; his face was a stone against the gale that was Will’s fury. Likely he was expecting worse. Screaming; accusations and blame. The man had certainly apologized rather sincerely for his own part already, but if Will felt the need to blame anyone, it was some amorphous figure of Fate.

Honestly, of course his true mate was one of America’s most infamous killers, with a recorded body count that had likely barely scraped the surface of his actual kills. And of course the thoroughbred alpha had managed to knock him up during his first - supposedly barren - heat, with all the odds against it.

Fuck his entire life.

“How- how sure are you?” Will tried, “How can you tell? The start of my heat was just over two weeks ago. I doubt a pregnancy test would even pick it up this early.”

“My sense of smell has always been quite keen, even for a thoroughbred.” Hannibal said with surety. “I have seldom been wrong in this. In my time as a medical doctor, I have never had an instance where my nose has been wrong regarding pregnancy, and I have frequently been able to determine other diagnoses, such as cancer, or infections. In fact, I was the first to know when my mother was pregnant with my younger sister, when I was just seven years old.”

Will nodded, instinctually feeling the rightness of Hannibal’s assessment. His eyes sharpened at the mention of the older man’s family, and realized then with no small horror that he barely knew the alpha at all, and yet he was pregnant with his child.

“If I may...” The alpha began, his tone coming as close to trepidation as Will had ever imagined it could. “I would never presume to sway your decision either way, and as both a medical doctor and as a psychiatrist, I’m firmly in the pro-choice camp. If you should like, I would be more than happy to refer you to a competent and discrete OBGYN, one who is capable both in assisting you with an abortion, should you choose that path, or prenatal care and delivery, should that be something you are willing to consider.”

Will looked at him, almost incredulous. “You think I should keep it.”

Hannibal watched him, expression unchanged. “It is not for me to say either way what you should do.”

A short, barking laugh tore out of Will’s mouth, and he shook his head, still staring at Hannibal with a piercing glare, blue eyes sharp in the slowly dying light of the fire. “Sure, you would be  _ polite _ enough to allow me the dignity of a choice, but I can practically smell how much you want it; I can read you Hannibal, even though you’re trying to push that desire down into the deepest, darkest part of you. Do you honestly think this would be a good idea? Breeding with  _ me?” _

Hannibal opened his mouth to argue, looking momentarily as though his fury over the insult would crack his stoney mask, but Will shot his hand out in a cross motion, cutting over him.

“You think what I have is a gift, but you don’t really know what it’s like to be like this. I constantly feel trapped in my own skin, in my own skull. Rattling around like a ghost where he’s not wanted, forced to watch the lives of others through a gray haze. I can’t  _ help _ but look, slipping into the minds of everyone around me, feeling their pain and desire and their  _ designs, _ and I can’t escape it. I can barely turn it off, and when I really, truly use it? I lose myself almost completely to it. How could I possibly want to reproduce when this is the kind of fate my child could potentially be doomed to?”

He paused to take in a shuddering breath, and looked away from Hannibal. The man had fallen into a silent mask of patience, letting Will vent without interruption.

“I’ve spent my whole life trying to avoid this - this  _ accountability _ to another person. I’ve failed at making real, human connections with anyone thus far. My father barely knew how to handle me. My own  _ mother _ left when I was barely old enough to remember her, but I  _ do _ remember her comments about there being something  _ wrong _ with me.’

‘I thought I could... could finally have some kind of connection with Abigail, but... How could I possibly provide any of the stability that she needs? I  _ killed _ her father. I’m a fucking mess, I can barely take care of myself, and my dogs are the only beings in this world that could put up with me and my...  _ idiosyncrasies.” _

“But you do want it.” Hannibal murmured, his tone soft. “A connection.”

Will squeezed his eyes shut, a hurt noise crawling up his throat and stalling there. His shoulders squeezed up as he hunched forward on himself. “I’m... afraid, of how badly I want it. Of how I could fuck it up.”

“Oh Will...” The omega flinched at Hannibal’s soothing tone, at the emotions welling up in the alpha’s voice. “If only you could see how truly wondrous you are. For what it’s worth, I believe that you would make an excellent parent.”

Will stared at him, his anger cooling minutely under the calm, resolute sincerity of Hannibal’s words. He blinked, only now becoming aware of the wetness along his lashes. He took a deep breath, and allowed the serenity of the alpha’s disposition to wash over him, taking refuge in his empathy for once. He let himself slip into the cool calm quiet that was Hannibal’s mind, and felt himself drifting away from his rage.

“Of course you do not need to make any decision immediately - nor should you, I think, unless you are resolutely set on a path. This has come to you as a large shock, and any action bears consideration. No choice needs to be made until you are 24 weeks along. You can take that time to think on it, and I will not bring it up again, unless you should ask for my opinion or help. I will completely respect whatever option you choose.” Hannibal paused, looking momentarily hesitant, his words uncharacteristically stalled in a moment of uncertainty, leaving Will feeling caught on tenterhooks.

‘However... I would speak my piece this one time, before I leave you to your thoughts.”

Will felt his eyebrows draw together in mild consternation, yet mostly, he felt curious. The notion persisted in his mind that an alpha, particularly a thoroughbred, would expect their word to be law; their decisions superseding those of an omega, particularly in regards to reproduction rights. Will was carrying the alpha’s  _ heir _ , and yet, somehow, he knew the man was being genuine in his words; that he really did want Will to be the one to determine the fate of their unborn child. He would bow to Will in this.

The omega nodded, not trusting himself to speak just yet, but brought up his eyes to meet the alpha’s, showing him without words that he would take Hannibal’s words to heart.

“I have long thought that I would live the rest of my life alone.” He began, maroon eyes neither sad nor regretful. “That has been my preference, as I find the idea of sharing certain aspects of myself... distasteful. I once had such a connection, and the loss of it almost broke me.”

Will’s eyes darted between his, becoming unfocused as he slipped into a shattered, fractious world, a past coloured in splashes of red, raw and open. “Your sister.”

It was spoken as the barest whisper, but the alpha flinched; such a small movement, but a more visceral reaction than Will had ever seen the alpha unconsciously make. Peering up into his maroon eyes, the omega witnessed a look of haunted sorrow. To his surprise, those eyes took on a misty look, the beginnings of tears welling up.

“She was taken from me.” The admission was halting. “I have never wanted to come to cherish any being so dearly ever again, as I feared ever having to face such a loss a second time. She was... as unlike to me as the sun is to the moon. Pure and gentle and bright. My parents adored her. I adored her. I would have done anything for her.”

“What was her name?” Will asked, soft.

“Mischa...” Hannibal choked out, a tear finally spilling over.

Will pressed forward, hand coming to rest over Hannibal’s, their skin warm from the heat of the fire. “You honoured her. And you avenged her, didn’t you?”

Hannibal offered him a bitter smile. “What was done to her could hardly be considered honourable. But yes, it took many years, but I have taken my pound of flesh from her killers.”

The smile that Will returned was sharp, a hint of savagery in it. “Good.”

With a slight nod of agreement, Hannibal returned his gaze to the fire. “The idea of having a family again, of bringing my own child into this world, is both my greatest desire, and my greatest fear. I never wished to shackle myself to a simple omega, someone whom I could blind to my true nature, to keep my house and raise my children in a trite charade of normalcy. I had considered potentially finding a surrogate and raising a child on my own, but the complications of such a venture always stayed my hand.”

He looked to Will again, determination sharpening his handsome features in the light of the fire. “I know you are not interested in bonding with me Will, but I cannot overlook this chance that fate has handed to me. I have been given the potential of a child, one of my own flesh and blood, born of my true mate. Those aspects you so deride in yourself, your gift and your uniqueness, those are things I would cherish in our child. The idea of such a perfect being, composed of the best of both of us; I must admit that I wish dearly for the opportunity to bring such a life into this world.’

‘If you would permit me, Will, I would ask that you consider the potential for me to adopt our child. You can be as involved in the life of our child as you wish, or should you prefer, it could be processed as a closed adoption, and you need not see either of us again after the birth.”

At Will’s look of sudden apprehension, Hannibal held up a forestalling hand. “As I said, you need not make a decision now. I would ask only that you think on it as a potential option. I will respect whatever choice you decide to make.”

The omega’s brows furrowed and his mouth drew down into a frown of dismay, “And you think that hardly sways my decision, Hannibal?” Will chided.

“I would be lying if I said my preferences did not colour my words, but I am being honest when I say that I will leave the choice with you, and that I will not bring the matter up again, unless you ask something of me.” With that, the alpha rose gracefully from the floor, bending smoothly to take up the dessert tray, with their half eaten mousse and half drunk coffees. “I will therefore leave you to your thoughts. Will you require assistance making it back to your room?”

Will stared up at him, blue eyes crackling with a banked rage, mirroring the flames that framed his form in the dying hearth. “No, thank you. I think I’m fine on my own.”

Hannibal fixed him with a long, penetrating stare, before he moved away on silent feet, into the gloom of the doorway beyond the study.

Filled with something like rage, but feeling more like sorrow, Will grabbed up the fireplace poker and stabbed at the mostly-consumed logs, casting burning embers and sparks across the hearth as he banked the dying fire, until all that was left was a smoldering hiss of dwindling light and heat.

 


	5. Five

The following day, a Saturday, as Will had come to learn during their short, terse conversation at breakfast, was an unseasonably bright, crisp November morning.

Hannibal had taken Will to the kennel to see his dogs, as he’d promised. The car ride had been filled with nothing but the soft sounds of a series of cello concertos, just barely loud enough to mask the gentle rumble of the Bentley’s smooth engine.

The alpha had hung back as Will fell to his knees before his pack, wrestling and rubbing them as they eagerly piled on to sniff, lick, and whine at their absentee owner. A few darted over to give Hannibal swift, happy greetings, licking at his ungloved hand as he offered it to them, tails wagging just as happily for him as for Will.

It was with a slightly lighter heart that Will left them, happy to know they had been well cared for, and that he would have them back home soon.

Entering into his house in Wolf Trap, the omega took a deep breath, a slight frown marring his face as he managed to scent Hannibal overtop the familiar notes of his dogs, himself, motor oil, and  _ home _ .

He spied his phone laying where he’d left it, turned off on his bedside table in the main room. He walked over to it, and touched his fingers to it’s glass surface.

The alpha had lingered in the doorway, not fully entering the omega’s space. Likely he had sensed Will’s unease, and had felt it all morning.

“I know it’s likely against your medical opinion,” Will began in an almost sarcastic tone, half turning towards the doctor, body language tight and defensive. “But I think I’d like to remain at home.”

Hannibal was silent for a long moment, considering. “It would put my mind at ease if you would allow me to collect some groceries and prepare you and your pack meals for the next few days. After which, I would be happy to retrieve your dogs from the kennel to bring them here. By all rights, you should still be on bedrest for the next few days, and I would feel better knowing you were not straining yourself unnecessarily.”

Turning more fully to face the alpha, Will’s eyes came up to glare at the knot of his forest-green tie. “You really are impossibly considerate. It makes you rather hard to hate.”

Blue eyes ticked up to catch the small upturn of Hannibal’s lips, a slight smile catching there. “I shall endeavour to try harder to rise in your estimation.”

“I wish you wouldn’t.” The omega sighed. “You’re already next to impossible to classify within the stereotypical psychology of a serial killer. Your conscientiousness is throwing off my profile.”

“Whyever would you feel the need to work on creating a profile for me, dear Will?” Hannibal inquired cheekily, a teasing smile turning those full lips up further. Will found himself flushing, and looked away, back towards his phone.

“Why indeed...” He muttered. Guilt wracked him as he stared down at the reflection looking up at him from the opaque black glass of his phone. “I should call Jack. Let him know I’m alive.”

The fine hairs on the back of his neck stood up, feeling Hannibal’s stare hot on his back. “Very well. I will return shortly with provisions to begin cooking.”

Will nodded, swallowing hard at the thought of Hannibal’s cooking. The front door opened and shut behind him, and he found himself shivering at the cold blast of wind that slipped in as Hannibal slipped out.

Turning on his phone, Will thought hard about what he would say to Jack. What he  _ should  _ say. With glazed eyes, he watched without really seeing as a flood of missed call and text notifications swarmed across his screen - his mind was instead back in that small cabin, on the scrupulously clean spot in the middle of the room that had once held the body of a man that Will had killed.

A man that Will had knowingly eaten; he had sucked the meat sweetly off of Hannibal’s fingers after the alpha had butchered and cooked it for him. After Hannibal had cleaned up his crime scene, no questions asked.

“Fuck.”

Heaving a heavy sigh, Will dialed Jack, putting the phone up against his ear.

“Yeah, Jack. I’m alive... No, everything’s fine.”

***

“So suffice to say, we’ve managed to find no new leads since you went MIA.” Jimmy recapped with a flourish, after having walked Will through the entire morgue to review the most recent victims, all while Beverly and Brian kept up a running commentary on their findings, and the case in general.

Jack loomed in the corner of the room, leaned up against an unused operating table, arms folded and lips pursed. He had been happy enough when Will had walked into the lab almost two hours earlier, but his mood was noticeably dropping the longer they went through the profile, and he outright grunted in frustration at Price’s closing statement.

“Which is why we need you back in the game, Will.” Jack concluded, pushing up and away from the table, his powerful, bulky form striding towards the group where they surrounded the latest set of victims.

This alpha had been killed in much the same way as the others; a painful pre-mortem severing of the genitals, followed by the killing blow; a shaky yet effective stab wound directly to the chest. Slightly off centre, but enough to nick one of the major arteries. He would have died in a matter of minutes.

His mate, the male omega who had inflicted the wounds, had slit his own throat.

Pictures of the scene showed them laying in a pool of their mingled blood. The omega had been curled so heavily in rigor mortis around his alpha that they had struggled to part the two bodies.

Will struggled to look at them, separated as they now were on operating tables a few feet apart. He felt the echo of their shared suffering, the mind numbing pain of their shattered bond.

With a shudder, Will felt the sticky tar of memory wash over him, his mind falling inexorably into his previous reconstruction of an earlier version of this same scene - different victims, yet the same exact scenario. The horror at being made to kill his own alpha, the twisting, sick pleasure when the face in the reconstruction had warped to become Hannibal. The shivering glory of basking in the wash of his hot, red blood. How he’d wanted  _ more _ , to carve the alpha open, to take his  _ heart _ .

The overwhelming horror and echoing pain at having killed his own mate; at having severed their bond. The need to take his own life.

“Ah, Dr. Lecter. Thank you for joining us.” Jack’s voice drew Will out of his dark reverie, though his heart still pounded in his chest, feeling fit to burst. Startled, he turned to watch the blond man enter the room, his face feeling flush despite his best efforts to calm himself.

Maroon eyes paused on him briefly, one pale eyebrow raising in a slight quirk of curiosity at Will’s state, but otherwise he did not allow his gaze to linger unduly.

Clasping his hands behind his back, Hannibal strode slowly into the room, eyes roving inquisitively over the arrayed bodies of the victims. “My apologies for not having been able to make it here sooner. I’m afraid I will only be able to spare two hours - I have more patients to see this afternoon.”

“Any time you can spare will help, Dr. Lecter.” Jack assured. “I need all the best minds I can get working on this, and you’ve proven to work well with Will in the past. I’m hoping the two of you together can help find the break this case needs.”

Hannibal offered Jack a polite, gracious smile, and settled to a stop between him and Will, ostensibly looking down at the bodies of the victims. Will noted the slight flaring of his nostrils, and wondered what the thoroughbred’s extra sensitive sense of smell was able to pick up under the layers of death, rot, embalming fluid, and other people in the room.

Will had liberally washed and doused himself with scent blockers and beta pheromones, but knew that would only mask his true gender for so long. Now that he was off of his suppressants and pregnant, it was only a matter of time before someone noticed something was off about him.

“I will give what assistance I can, however, I have had no new insights into the case beyond what Will had surmised before his absence.” Hannibal prevaricated. “I believe he was correct when he stated that we are looking for an omega who has a deep-seated hatred for their bonded alpha, and who is currently acting out violent fantasies on similar bonded couples. The only other data points we have are the consistency in male-male primary genders for both the alpha and omega victims, as well as them sharing the same ethnic and socio-economic statuses, that being of the higher strata of Baltimore’s elite.”

The rest of the team was nodding along, Will with them, though he looked pensive, eyes focused at some middle point, thoughts far away.

“The genital mutilation.” He began, tapping a finger against his lower lip. “Do any of these couples have children?”

Beverly made a noise, before ticking off her fingers one by one, muttering to herself as she mentally shifted through her list. “Yes... yes they all do, though there’s no consistency in age that I’m aware of.”

“That doesn’t matter.” Will cut in. “What matters is that they are all fertile. The genital mutilations - the omega feels... cheated, over his inability to have children. He sees his alpha as the thing stopping him from achieving it, but they’re bonded, so there’s nothing he can do to remedy his situation. He wants it more than anything, and  _ hates  _ his alpha for denying him that chance.”

“That makes... a lot of sense.” Jimmy muttered, staring down at the mutilated corpse of the Alpha.

“I... this omega is likely attempting to determine if there is any  _ possible _ way that he can destroy this bond with his alpha, so is conducting an... experiment of sorts. Forcing these happily bonded, fertile omegas to kill their alphas, likely at gunpoint, waiting for some sort of proof that it can be done...without...”

“The need to immediately commit suicide due to the destruction of the bond.” Beverly supplied, nodding along as Will spoke.

"’The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results’." Hannibal surmised, turning his eyes from the victims to rest on Will. He looked oddly proud, a smile hidden in his eyes while his face remained carefully neutral. Their eyes caught, and Will felt a heat pool in his stomach, his heart rate picking up at the soft look the alpha was giving him.

“So we have a motive, but not a profile.” Brian summarised, arms folded across his chest, not looking particularly agreeable. He was as testy an alpha as they came, and frequently went out of his way to be contrarian just because he could. Often he worked well as a sounding board for Jimmy, as he frequently played devil’s advocate to the chipper beta, but Will felt his hackles rise at the comment.

Hannibal’s gaze left his, that intense focus shifting to consider the forensic pathologist. Will felt a chill run through him as the older man tilted his head, just so. Words of defense cluttered up under his tongue, but Will said nothing, trusting Hannibal to not make so rash a decision as to kill one of Jack’s closest team members.

“It’s not much to go on, but it’s better than what we had.” Jack admitted, shooting his own proud look at Will. He leaned forward to rest his knuckles on the table before them, hardly squeamish around the dead at this point in his career. He turned his head to look at the empath, eyes beseeching. “Do you have anything else for us, Will?”

Will grimaced, and looked around the room, head turning in a slow pan of the rows of corpses. There were 18, altogether. Bonded alpha and omega pairs, murdered in some sick attempt to prove the unprovable, leaving orphaned children behind.

It was bad, and Will genuinely wanted to see this killer stopped, at all costs.

He was glad to know his moral compass hadn’t completely slipped.

“Their socio-economic status. That wasn’t fleshed out before I left.” Will began, haltingly; working through his thoughts aloud. “There can only be so many male-male alpha-omega pairs in the Tri-state area running in a certain social circle. Have we tried screening and interviewing them?”

The rest of the team grimaced, and Jimmy spoke up, “It’s like herding cats, honestly. We’ve tried getting some people in for questioning, but everyone lawyers up the second we reach out, assuming they’re being considered suspects. It’s been a dead end.”

Will blew out a heavy breath, ruffling the overgrown bangs in front of his eyes. He pulled off his glasses and rubbed them against the hem of his shirt. The piece of clothing was worryingly loose on him, after his heat. All of his clothes were, now. “That was likely our best angle... I can spend some more time with the files, try to think of another approach.”

A sudden snap of fingers caught all their attention as Jack straightened, a sudden look of inspiration on his face.

“If they won’t come to us, we can go to them.” He said, sounding triumphant. Will looked at him in askance, but the alpha looked instead to Hannibal. “This is exactly your purview, Dr. Lecter - don’t you rub elbows with this group of people at all of your social events?”

Hannibal met the other alpha’s enthusiasm with a quirked eyebrow. “Certainly I do, but neither a dinner party nor an opera is a suitable place to interrogate the social elite, and it’s hardly as if we can divine the identity of our killer simply by looking at them from across a room.”

“ _ We _ can’t.” Jack agreed, before nodding his head at Will. “But  _ he _ might be able to.”

“What  _ exactly _ are you suggesting, Jack?” Will demanded, incredulous. “That I show up and somehow sniff out your killer like some prized bloodhound with a scent? That’s insane! Let alone how much your asking of Dr. Lecter - he can’t just bring around some slummy beta who stares too long and ask strange questions and expect his reputation to not take a hit.”

“Actually,” Hannibal began, his tone speculative. “I believe Jack might be onto something.”

Jack shot Will a smug look, and Will looked between them, his own expression full of disbelief and umbridge. “You can’t  _ seriously _ agree to this! This is completely unfeasible; the likelihood of me being able to randomly pick out a killer from a group of socialites during some trite small talk is ludacris. You’d be expecting me to perform a miracle!”

Jack just shrugged, looking for all the world like it was already a done deal in his head. It probably was. The alphas had conferred, and agreed, so who the fuck cared about what the beta thought. Will seethed.

“I’ll take whatever odds I can get. If it doesn’t work, no harm done, but at least we’ll have tried.” Jack said, turning to Hannibal again. “How soon can you manage to get yourself and Will into one of these events? And would it be possible to line up a few different outings, just to cover all of our bases? The BAU will cover any of the associated costs, of course.”

Hannibal looked to Will, obviously noting his ire, but turned back to Jack when the younger man rolled his eyes and nodded in resignation from behind Jack’s back. “I have box seats at the Opera, and was already planning on attending a production of  _ Carmen _ this Friday. It would be simple enough to have Will join me. I have also been looking at a few more upcoming events that would be suitable. I would be happy to make the arrangements, should Will permit it.”

“Excellent.” Jack said, clapping his hands together. “Will, you can take home the files to see about finding any other angles, and accompany Hannibal on his outings in the meantime.”

With that, the alpha left the room, clearly having achieved some peace of mind now that there was some forward progress on the case.

Beverly came around the table and leaned next to Will, aiming a teasing look his way as she touched the hem of his baggy plaid shirt. “Looks like a makeover is in your cards for the near future, if you really are that worried about Dr. Lecter’s  _ reputation _ . I’d be happy to help you go on a shopping spree, unless you happen to have a full tux hidden somewhere under all those dogs back in Wolf Trap.”

Will frowned at her, but conceded to her point. “Honestly, how hard could it be to pick out a decent suit? I’m sure I can manage.”

Hannibal cleared his throat softly from beside them. “If I may provide a suggestion; I have a well trusted tailor that would be more than amenable in providing a favour to have a suit made ready for you before the end of the week. You might find it a challenge to get any alterations done in a timely fashion during this time of year, and though I don’t wish to be rude, your standard “off-the-rack” suit would not be sufficient to meet the standards of the type of profile that we are hunting.”

Will shot him an irritated look, but decided not to pick a fight on a topic he knew next to nothing about. “Fine. I’m still holding off on returning to my lectures this week, so just text me the time and place, and I’ll meet you.”

The older man nodded deferentially, accepting Will’s tetchy attitude more easily than the omega would have expected. He had clearly picked up on Will’s unhappiness in having been steamrolled by Jack into being involved in this whole farce, and was willing to be more tolerant of Will’s behaviour. Though honestly, Hannibal was hardly likely to add him to his menu while he was still pregnant with his child.

Will felt a quiet tickle of internal glee as he realized he had almost free reign to antagonize the older man.

“Sounds like a date!” Jimmy cut in, with a chipper smirk aimed at the both of them.

Will sighed.

***

Hannibal spoke in quick, confident Italian as he detailed his suggestions for Will’s suit, asking his tailor and her assistant to have an array of colours and cuts laid out for the younger man for when he arrived. The alpha had arrived early to assist in the selection prior to the time he had requested Will to arrive at, having called in the day before with the last minute request, already armed with a list of suggestions to pull for the appointment.

Will was quite pale of late, and therefore might look very fetching in darker shades. Navies, burgundies, forest greens... Given the winter season, a thicker wool would be preferable.

The door chimed lightly as it opened, emitting both a chill bite of wind suffused with a distinctive bland beta scent, as well as a windswept, pink-cheeked Will Graham.

Hannibal paused in his conversation, turning fully to greet the younger man. Admittedly, he looked ravishing just as he was; poorly bundled in a battered and worn dark green canvas jacket, an itchy looking wool scarf, and a plain black beanie, chocolate curls peeking out from beneath it. Certainly, he was more ravishing still in naught but his skin.

But the alpha could hardly suppress his desire to dress this gorgeous omega in his own preferred style. He had admittedly fantasized about such an opportunity already in great detail. He felt a lick of heat roll through him as he strode forward to press his hand to the small of Will’s back, ushering him in from the cold and further into the cozily warm shop.

He leaned into the smaller man slightly, scenting the omega subtly. Underneath the heinous aroma of artificial beta pheromones, he could still detect the delicate hints of increased progesterone, prolactin, and HCG. It was a heady mix, and it took a good deal of Hannibal’s willpower to not press his nose in tight against Will’s flushed skin to scent him properly.

“Will, this is Signora Sofia Ricci. She has been my tailor for almost 10 years, and I trust her completely to see about getting you outfitted for our various outings in the upcoming weeks.”

The alpha’s smile did not dampen as Will turned to look up at him with eyebrows raised at the mention of their “various outings”. His sharp blue eyes spoke volumes as to his disinterest in the whole affair, but he hid the look behind the thick corners of his glasses as he greeted the tailor, taking her hand in a firm handshake. “Thank you for seeing me under such short notice. I can’t imagine it will be easy to fit me in.”

“Nonsense, nonsense!” The tall alpha woman chided, already allowing her eyes to rake over him, the gaze professional, but still leaving Will feeling stripped down. He struggled not to squirm, still held fast by her grip on his hand. “Hannibal has been one of my most loyal clients, and is honestly one of my favourites to dress. His frame is to die for; he is made to wear suits, and more than that, he is actually bold enough to try more haute fashion! Truly a rare trait amongst the rabble of alphas who come in wanting all to look the very same. One gets tired of producing the same thing over and over. Hannibal allows me to truly produce  _ art _ !”

Will blinked, overwhelmed by her enthusiasm. “Dr. Lecter is always the best dressed man in any room, so I suppose he has you to thank for that, Signora.”

The woman preened for a moment, but then doffed her head at Hannibal. “It would be dishonest of me to claim full credit. Hannibal does have such a keen eye for colours and cuts himself. He himself is an artist as well, after all! I suppose you’ve seen some of his sketches? They are marvelous. He has already taken the liberty of pulling a selection of suits and shirts for you to try on, and I must admit, seeing you now, I feel as though they will likely look stunning on you. _ ” _

“Of course he has...” Will muttered under his breath, allowing himself to be pulled towards the fitting room located at the back of the small store.

“Will, this is the Signora’s grandson and apprentice, Antonio.” Hannibal introduced as they came into the heavily mirrored room and found a young, swarthy complexioned alpha waiting, a measuring tape draped over his broad shoulders and a pin cushion of tailor pins strapped to his left wrist. Will’s interest peaked at the older alpha’s tone of disinterest; Hannibal sounded almost annoyed at having to acknowledge the younger man. Not a fan, then.

“Ah, Signore Graham!” The young man gushed, coming forward to take Will’s right hand in both of his own, holding rather than shaking in any real sense. Will’s ear wasn’t exactly trained to it, but he did detect that Antonio’s accent was an affectation. Likely the boy was American, and had never lived in Italy. “It will be my pleasure to help dress you today - if you would, it would be much easier to take your measurements if you were to undress so that I may get a more accurate look.”

It wasn’t so much a movement or noise, but rather a feeling of electricity that ran up Will’s spine, and Antonio suddenly released his hand and took a stuttering step back as Hannibal spoke up from Will’s side. “A full set of measurements will not be necessary today, Antonio. I have a good idea of William’s sizes, and have already pulled a selection of garments that should fit him. All you need assist with is the alterations, should they be necessary.”

Antonio nodded, looking put-out. “Of course, Dottore. In that case, Signore Graham, you can head into the changing room just through there. All of the items should already be laid out. Don’t hesitate to let me know if you need any assistance.”

Will took in the young man’s lascivious smile and subtly flirty undertones, and couldn’t help but be bemused. The alpha was at least 10 years his junior, a cocky 22 year old who thought it was a fun game to hit on an older beta who was clearly in some sort of relationship with a much more senior, established alpha.

Antonio clearly had no idea what kind of trouble he could get himself into, but still... It could prove a fun little way of provoking Hannibal. Will was hardly pleased to be in this situation, and he was eager to make his displeasure known.

“I certainly appreciate the offer, Antonio.” Will demurred, looking down and away, almost shy. As he entered the changing room, he caught the reflection of Hannibal’s eyes in one of the many mirrors, noting that the man looked entirely amused at Will’s sudden antics.

Will couldn’t wait to wipe that self-assured look off of the older man’s face.

The changing room held a truly dazzling assortment of vibrant, jewel toned colours. Everything felt remarkably soft, and much to Will’s chagrin, he realized that Hannibal must have selected many of the fabrics with a thought for an omega’s typical preferences in mind.

Mildly annoyed, he decided on picking the most ostentatious of the lot, stripping out of his own clothes quickly. He managed the bright, ripe pomegranate red pants easily enough, stalling a bit as he caught sight in the mirror of how tight they cupped him in  _ all _ areas.

Next, he slipped on the sinfully cool cream silk dress shirt, swearing softly as he fumbled over what appeared to be  _ mother of pearl  _ buttons, which were nearly impossible to feed into the  fiddly little button holes. That done, he finally pulled on the matching red suit jacket, eyebrows raised at the aggressively patterned interior lining of navy silk, shot through with swimming golden-threaded paisley designs.

“Fucking paisley.” Will muttered, not caring that Hannibal could likely still hear him. There was one last piece to the outfit laid out; a scrap of silken navy fabric, which Will could only surmise was a cravat - a style of tie that was much more typically  _ omegan _ in vogue, currently. Hannibal certainly wasn’t earning any points in his favour.

Stepping out of the changing room, Will ignored Hannibal entirely, walking up to Antonio, who was now looking at him with something close to open-mouthed awe. “I’m afraid I don’t know the first thing about how to manage to put this on - would you be able to help me, Antonio?”

The man swallowed at Will’s soft, pleading tone, and his dark eyes followed Will’s hands as he pulled the collar of his silk shirt open wide, turning to present the back of his smooth, unblemished neck to the young alpha. Will snuck a look up from under his lashes at Hannibal, who was now sat in a plush looking chair at the back of the fitting room, legs crossed and filled with the stillness of a waiting predator, watching Will’s display with a dark, guarded expression.

All previous amusement at the situation was now completely gone from the older alpha’s face.

Will bit his lip, allowing himself to startle slightly and emit a small, breathy noise as Antonio took the cravat, and with  _ entirely _ too much touching, wrapped it firmly around Will’s throat.

The younger man ran proprietary hands along Will’s shoulders and down his arms as he finished, and then ushered Will forward with a hand on his back, exactly where Hannibal had touched him earlier -  _ alphas and their need to scent mark, honestly - _ and had Will step up onto the low podium at the centre of the room, facing the wall of mirrors.

“Just as I thought, Hannibal’s selection was excellent.” Signora Ricci said with a firm nod, chin pinched between her thumb and forefinger as she studied Will almost clinically. “I could scarcely have chosen better myself. It fits almost perfectly, as well.”

“Almost perfectly.” Antonio agreed, before pressing close to Will, pulling the measuring tape from his shoulders. “But we must certainly ensure that it is tailored to Signore Graham’s form exactly. It would be a travesty to let it be anything less than perfect, as nothing should take away from his exquisite appearance.”

Will allowed himself to flush, looking down bashfully, “You flatter me, Antonio, honestly. There is no need for such high compliments.”

Signora Ricci made a noise of agreement, gaze sharp on her grandson. “He is right, Antonio.  _ Dovresti guardare la tua lingua.” _

Will allowed his eyes to trail up again to look at Hannibal as the woman hissed the reprimand, a smirk lifting the corner of his lips. The man’s expression remained unchanged, but Will felt the heat of his gaze as a constant pressure over his body.

The woman held out her hand in a silent demand, and with a flippant shrug, Antonio passed off the measuring tape and pin cushion to his grandmother, and stepped down and away from Will. “My apologies, Signore Graham; that was very forward of me.”

Will nodded lightly in acceptance, and stood still as the tailor began to pinch at the loose fabric of his suit, little though there was. She pinned the excess with a startlingly quick efficiency, bringing in the line of his waist, tightening the curl of fabric around his thighs. Otherwise, it was a completely perfect fit for the length of his arms and legs, and the waist of the pants rested perfectly over the jut of his hips.

Will shivered slightly as he thought of those dark maroon eyes dragging over his naked form as he had had the omega laid out during his heat, how they had already catalogued him perfectly, down to the smallest inch. He felt that heavy regard on him now, the weight of Hannibal’s intense focus, and wondered just how intimately the man  _ saw  _ him.

“There, now.” The tailor stepped back, running a critical eye over the suit. “Is there anything about the suit you find needs to be changed? Is it to your liking?”

Will pursed his lips, actually taking a moment to regard himself in the well-lit mirrors before him, and was momentarily at a loss at his reflection. It was... overwhelmingly an impressively gorgeous suit, and somehow the intense colours did somehow manage to look incredibly good on him.

Suddenly, there was a chime as the front door opened, and another as it shut seconds later. Signora Ricci looked up, and then glanced between Will, Hannibal, and Antonio. “If you will excuse me to go look after the front of the store. Antonio, I trust you can manage the rest?”

She held the younger man’s gaze with a look and tone that brooked no nonsense, and left when the apprentice nodded.

Will caught the younger alpha’s eye in the mirror, offering him a hesitant smile, which the man returned eagerly. “I did have one thought regarding a small change to the outfit.” He fingered the cravat, giving an appearance of uncertainty. “I have read recently that there is a trend amongst the younger generation to forgo ties altogether. I would hardly want to appear behind the times, and perhaps you would know more about... _ current _ fashions, Antonio? Dr. Lecter would hardly be interested in such things, as he’s nearly twice your age.”

He held the younger man’s eyes as he hooked a finger under the knot of the cravat and pulled it free in a whisper of silk.

“Th-that is indeed a style trend that I’ve seen more recently, Signore Graham.” Antonio stammered, eyes once again caught on the pale skin of Will’s exposed neck.

“Excellent.” Will proclaimed, turning a cheeky look at Hannibal as he adjusted the collar of his shirt, leaving the jut of his collar bones on display, the dip of the shirt showing off just a hint of his smooth chest. “I would hardly want to be thought of as unfashionable, and Dr. Lecter does prefer me to look a certain way, don’t you,  _ daddy?” _

Will heard Antonio choke out a gasp at the word, but he fixed his amused gaze on Hannibal’s own.

“You know my tastes quite intimately, darling boy.” The older alpha agreed easily, playing along with Will, though his dark eyes gleamed dangerously.

“I think I will pass on the cravat, then.” Will said, pressing the piece of cloth into Antonio’s hands, turning his cheeky smile on the stunned young alpha before walking back into the changing room.

This was beginning to feel fun.

***

“We will have the first suit delivered to your house for Friday afternoon, 5:00pm at the very latest, Dottore.” Antonio assured them as they stood at the checkout counter. “The other four custom suits will be sent over as they are completed over the next few weeks, in the order that you requested.”

Will felt his eyes go wide as the first suit was rung up -  _ just the jacket _ \- and then felt them widen further as the silk shirt was added to the total. Mother of pearl buttons indeed. There was  _ no way  _ that Jack would be willing to foot this kind of bill with the department’s budget.

He sent a saccharinely sweet smile towards Antonio, and pressed his right hand back against Hannibal’s chest. “If you’ll excuse us a moment, I just wanted to have a private word with Dr. Lecter.”

Antonio nodded, still looking vaguely stricken. The trial of dealing with Will through the rest of the fittings had clearly done a number on his nerves. The increasingly heady scent of Hannibal’s strong and growing displeasure and arousal likely hadn’t helped.

Will pressed Hannibal back a few steps, smiling sweetly up at him, though his eyes took on a serious look. He leaned up into Hannibal’s heat, pressed all along the front of the alpha as he tilted his lips up against the taller man’s ear. “I will  _ let you  _ buy me all these clothes, and I will give you my promise to wear  _ whatever else _ you’d like to these events, but you have to make me a promise in return.”

Hannibal’s scent thickened, but he chuckled almost derisively at Will’s words. “It appears you are quite taken with this darling sugar-baby charade that you’ve put on, dear William. As convincing as the act is, you seem to be implying that I am hardly a part of the act at all, but a real player in your little game.”

“Are you not,  _ alpha _ ?” Will whispered back, letting the words curl over his tongue. “Don’t think I can’t see how badly you want to play with me; to dress me up and parade me around on your arm like some sweet little ornament.”

Hannibal pulled back, catching Will’s eye with a charmed look. “I’m afraid you are only partially correct. I would much rather have an equal by my side. I have no patience for a mere plaything.”

Will dipped his head in acknowledgement, but pushed again, “But you are eager to dress me up, to spend thousands of dollars on suits for me?”

“I am.” The alpha admitted, sighing softly. He gave Will an irritated yet fond look. “And I am interested in hearing the terms for this game of yours.”

Will hummed in victory, and kept his eyes locked on the Alpha’s, “You will agree to leave the apprentice alone. I was the one who goaded him during my little charade, and I won’t have him reaping all the blame for it.”

The alpha’s full lips pursed in mild annoyance, and he seemed to think it over for a moment, before he finally gave a dignified nod. “Agreed. You really are quite the terrible tease. Managing to lure impressionable young alphas even with your omega scent masked behind that horrible beta spray. And how deviously you’ve manipulated me. You’re proving to be quite the terror, my dear William.”

Will chuckled darkly, and pulled slightly away from Hannibal, only now noticing that the man’s arms had come up to encircle him during their whispered conversation.

The larger man relinquished his hold readily enough, and followed Will back to the checkout counter, pulling his wallet out of his inner coat pocket as he strode forward. He withdrew a sleek black card, holding it out to Antonio.

Will took the moment to curl into Hannibal’s side, tucking his mouth up intimately against the alpha’s throat, yet speaking loud enough that Antonio would be able to overhear. “How much are you spending on me today, daddy?”

Hannibal accepted the point of sale machine from the apprentice, an air of thick alpha authority oozing from him as he looked down at the slightly smaller man. He smiled at Antonio, teeth sharp. “Just under forty seven thousand dollars for today, my darling. Though I believe I will need to find a few more finishing touches for your outfits. I can hardly allow you to catch a chill wearing that thin jacket, and we must address the issue of your shoes.”

Will felt his stomach drop at the final amount, his heart rate picking up. The number was astronomical; far beyond what he could have imagined. He realized that he might be completely in over his head, but honestly, Hannibal hardly seemed bothered by the sum at all.

And the man was still planning on spending  _ more _ on Will. He felt completely overwhelmed with unexpected emotions; he felt  _ cherished _ , provided for by the alpha.

Biting his lip, Will murmured an abashed ‘thank you’ in to the thick wool of Hannibal’s overcoat, playing the shy lover, but in actuality, he was completely mortified, and just slightly  _ wet _ .

“Think nothing of it.” Hannibal said in a mollifying tone. He pressed his nose into Will’s curls, the very image of a doting alpha, though likely he was scenting the omega. “It is entirely my pleasure.”

Will felt warm, almost as though he was having an out of body experience. He allowed Hannibal to shepherd him out into the cold with a hand again pressed to that spot low on his back, and couldn’t find it in him to protest as he was led into another shop just a few doors down.

_ What have I gotten myself into? _

 


	6. Six

“Will.” Hannibal greeted with a broad, sharp smile as he opened his front door early on Friday evening. “You’re just on time. I hope you’ve brought your appetite.”

The smaller man stepped in from the cold, an arched eyebrow and prickly expression his only answer to the question. Hannibal allowed his hand to drift down the length of the omega’s back as he swept him through the foyer toward the coat closet, and took it upon himself to divest Will of his outerwear and bag, leaving him looking lightly rumpled; chocolate curls mussed and cheeks pinked.

He took his chance to scent lightly at the younger man as they stood close, allowing his eyes to slip shut in pleasure at the cloying scent of pregnancy hormones that lingered around the omega, stronger now as the younger man was not currently wearing his beta spray.

Will suffered a light touch to his lower back as Hannibal guided him further into his home, leading him into the dining room and pulling out a chair.

Will’s blue eyes raked over the plate of food that Hannibal brought out in short order. It was a colorful medley of stewed meat, lentils, sweet potatoes, roasted kale, and slivered almonds. It smelled of spice, pungent and lively and exotic.

“Who are we having for dinner this evening?” The omega inquired, hands still resting in his lap as he looked up at Hannibal, a sharp inquiry in his eyes.

“Chicken.” Hannibal answered blithely. The alpha took up his own fork, and speared a piece of the light meat, eating it delicately while maintaining eye contact with the younger man.

“... Chicken.” Will repeated, only slightly dubious. Looking down at his plate again, he suddenly picked up on something else. “This is all pregnancy food.”

The alpha hummed in agreement, dipping his head in a nod. “I thought it might be best to cater to your current... dietary needs, such as they are.”

Will let out a breathy sigh of relief, and took up his own fork. He had been leery of consuming human meat, and was ready to turn the alpha down in deference to the consideration of their unborn child; the lack of choice for an innocent soul. “That is... very considerate of you, Hannibal. Thank you.”

“Not at all, dear Will. I find myself eager to cater to your needs.” Hannibal admitted, looking slightly put out, but fond. “I have been feeling rather introspective regarding my alphan nature, of late.”

The younger man gave a curious hum. “A fair subject to consider. Honestly, for a thoroughbred alpha you tend to have rather a lot of omegan characteristics. Your love of cooking, gardening, art, music, finery... I’m honestly surprised your handling this as... calmly as you are.”

Hannibal offered him a smile at the backhanded compliment. “I still strive to rise in your estimation, and I can hardly manage that by alienating you with aggressive overtures.”

“You’re still hoping to win me over?” Will asked, trying to cover up his smile. “With chicken?”

The older man huffed a laugh, but his eyes grew serious as he laid down his fork, leaning forward to regard Will with a heavy gaze. “There is little that I find I would not do to win you. These last few days have given me ample time to consider my desires on the matter, and though your choices are your own, I will do everything in my power to prove myself to you. It has not escaped me that you have yet to reveal my true nature to Jack, nor do I believe that you will, but I will cease to hunt under the guise of the Chesapeake Ripper, as I do not wish to risk a potential future with you.”

Will felt himself growing warm, both due to the heat of Hannibal’s focus and his own growing anger. “You would really do that, for me? Or are you just so concerned with the fate of your unborn child? If you truly were, maybe you should consider stopping your killings altogether.”

Maroon eyes held his, the look in them fathomlessly deep. There was an understanding there, and a promise. “When I took you into my home as you began to recover from your heat, and had my first chance to take in your natural, unfiltered scent, I realized then that I was lost. It took me this long to admit it to myself, but I have known, perhaps from the first moment that we met, that we were fated to be together. Almost losing you to your heat filled me with a fear such as I have not experienced since the loss of my sister. No one else on this earth has captivated me as easily as you have, mind, body, and soul.”

Will blinked, at a loss for words, but could feel the truth in the statement; it was echoed in his own mind. Thoughts he had been avoiding or repressing since that first meeting in Jack’s office mere months ago. “I-I don’t know if I can...”

“If you can let yourself have what you truly want, Will?” Hannibal finished the thought for him, knowing exactly what the omega couldn’t finish saying. “If you can let yourself be happy? If you can accept that fate has been kind enough to put us in each other's paths? We have been offered a rare gift. No one will ever be more suited to understanding and accepting all that I am.” Hannibal held up a forestalling hand as Will looked ready to lash out about the reference to his empathy. “It is about more than your empathy, Will. I have sensed a darkness in you, yearning and eager to be let out to play. It reaches out to me, and I would answer it, eagerly. If only you would let me.”

“What you’re asking for...” Will started, brokenly. “It... it would destroy me. It would change me in ways that could not be undone.”

“You would be like a phoenix. Reborn from the ashes; unrepentantly glorious, and remarkable to behold.”

Will trembled, feeling the heat of the fire within him, trying desperately to hold back the flames, knowing they would consume him. “That’s... that’s really how you see me?”

Hannibal caught the omega’s chin in his hand, leaning forward to whisper, intimate. “You are the most gorgeous being I’ve laid eyes on. Let me show you how I see you.”

***

The soft noises of the shower continued in the master bathroom as Hannibal laid out Will’s outfit for the evening on the bed, opposite his own.

He had instructed the omega to clean himself using Hannibal’s own personal products, though he had also advised the man in advance to bring his scent blockers and beta spray along with him, which he had brought into the bath to apply after he was freshly washed.

The alpha had just finished laying out all of the items when he heard the water stop, and turned expectantly as the door opened. Will stood framed in the doorway, gorgeous and flushed with heat, wrapped in a soft, white bathrobe. He looked unsure; a picture of delicate unease.

Reticent blue eyes stuttered up to meet his, and Hannibal offered him a warm smile, walking towards the bathroom.

“Your promise, earlier.” He began, raising his hand to run over the line of Will’s stubbled jaw. “When you offered yourself as a sacrifice in place of the apprentice. You told me I could have you wear whatever I wished to these outings.” Will nodded, a cagey look drawing over his face. ”I have a request that is not  _ quite  _ in line with that rule, but I do feel it is similar enough in spirit.”

“And what might that be?” Will demanded, trepidation colouring his tone.

“I would like very much to shave you.” Hannibal asked, breath ghosting over Will’s face as he leaned in, rubbing his own smooth cheek against Will’s lightly bearded one. “If you would permit me.”

Hannibal could feel Will stiffen, and he drew back, watching the omega carefully.

The alpha was utterly charmed at the blush that stole over the younger man’s face, the guarded look turning into one of mild exasperation. “It’s your show.”

The omega rolled his eyes at the delighted grin that lit up Hannibal’s face at his acquiescence, and allowed the alpha to lead him back into the still steam-filled bathroom.

The air was heavy with moisture, warm and heady, smelling lightly of sandalwood and bergamot. Will had not yet applied the beta spray, for which Hannibal was incredibly grateful. Though the younger man seemed to balk for a moment, he allowed Hannibal to aid him in sitting up on a clear stretch of black marble counter beside the sink.

The younger man fidgeted, looking charmingly curious as Hannibal pulled out his shaving kit, making a few passes of his straight razor over the strop to ensure the keenness of the blade.

Hannibal looked up at the younger man from beneath his lashes as he set the razor aside and began preparing a lather, greedily taking in the still pink cheeks, heated from the shower and the warmth of the room, the way the omega had his lower lip caught between his teeth, eyes still fixed on the glinting sharp metal of the blade. His blue eyes were half lidded, but Hannibal could just make out how black they were, pupils dilated in either lust or fear. Likely both.

It was a curious reaction, and one Hannibal would push further.

Items all laid out now, the alpha stepped purposely into the omega’s space, pleased when the smaller man spread his legs to admit Hannibal between them, baring the pale skin of his thighs in a delicious display. The belt of the bathrobe loosened as Will shuffled back, leaning against the mirror behind him, exposing the dip of his collarbones and a deep vee of his chest.

Tendons in the omega’s neck stretched and flexed as Hannibal pressed two fingers under his chin, tipping it up and back. The omega’s eyes squeezed shut, and he swallowed heavily.

“Stay just like this, darling.” He murmured, leaning in much more closely than necessary to begin applying the lather. With languid movements, he brushed over all the lines and contours of the omega’s lower face and neck, taking the time to admire his fine bone structure and smooth skin. He breathed deeply, not able to discern as much as he might have liked after the omega’s use of the scent blockers in the shower, but nevertheless was able to pick up on the subtle hints of his own bath products, hormones, anxiety, and arousal.

It was the perfect mix.

Done with the lather, Hannibal set the bowl and brush aside and took up the razor. Will’s eyes flicked open at the noise, fixing immediately on the blade, pupils still blown out, before snapping to meet Hannibal’s gaze. A look almost like shame-ridden want stole over his face, before he squeezed his eyes shut again, letting out a loud breath through his nose.

“You must remain very still now, Will.” Hannibal instructed, voice low and intimate as he leaned close again, one hand coming up to cup the back of Will’s skull, fingers tangling in damp curls as he pulled the omega’s throat that much more taut, his face angled completely up towards Hannibal.

With sure and controlled motions, Hannibal began to sweep the razor over Will’s still-flushed skin, streaks of lather and hair coming away easily beneath the incredibly sharp blade. The omega’s breath hitched, again and again, aborted twitches racking his body. Hannibal kept his hold tight on his curls, ostensibly unwilling to cut the younger man should his movements cause a mistake.

Yet the growing and tantalizing scent of the younger man’s arousal gave the alpha the desperate urge to test his hypothesis; Will’s intense fixation on the blade and previous masochistic tendencies made an answering arousal flare in the alpha’s gut, his own cock twitching in his slacks as he let himself fall into the imagination of it. Allowing the sharp metal to nick that creamy, flushed skin; blood, already so close to the surface, trickling down in a vibrant cascade, bright colour splashed against a pale canvas.

And how badly Hannibal wished to taste it again, sweet and natural as it would be without the effects of the suppressants upon it.

His cock twitched harder, and Will whimpered suddenly, drawing Hannibal from his thoughts. The hand wrapped in the omega’s curls was now painfully tight, and Will’s fingers flexed white around his grip on the edge of the marble counter.

Hannibal’s nostrils flared as he caught scent of a burst of slick, mingling with the heady musk of his own precum, their mingled arousals. The razor was held poised, frozen against Will’s throat, and the omega cracked his eyes open to stare up at the alpha looming over him.

“Were you planning on finishing anytime soon?” Will inquired with a breathy rasp, movements careful as he spoke with the blade still tight against his skin. His eyes were almost completely black, his lips gorgeously red for how viciously he had been biting at them.

Hannibal gazed down at him, enraptured at the sight. Slowly, a great predator uncoiling from around it’s prey, the alpha pulled the razor back, cleaning it with a practiced flick against the waiting towel.

Will’s face was completely smooth now, only a few lingering streaks of lather marring the clean expanse of it.

Hannibal took up a face cloth, dampened it with warm water, and began to gently clean away the remnants. Will kept his eyes slitted open, watching him now with an unreadable expression.

Finally, he reached for a bottle of aftershave, one that he had recently bought for this express purpose, a scent purchased specifically for the omega. He daubed the clear, pleasant smelling liquid into the palms of his hands, rubbing them together to warm it before he cupped Will’s face, massaging it in with gentle, languid caresses.

Will sighed, looking blissed out, leaning bonelessly back against the mirror now that Hannibal had released his sharp hold. His robe had slipped again, exposing one of his shoulders, the fair skin of it covered in a spattering of freckles, likely brought out by repeated sun exposure.

Hannibal was amazed to realize he had never noted them before.

Will began to sit up as Hannibal finished applying the aftershave, his movements sluggish, indolent. Blue eyes snapped up to maroon as Hannibal rested his hand on that exposed shoulder, forestalling the movement.

“I’m not finished with you quite yet, dear boy.” The alpha chided teasingly, pressing Will back again. The smaller man resettled himself, legs still spread invitingly, head tilted back to look up at the alpha.

“I find myself surprisingly eager to find out what you could possibly still have in store for me.” The omega confessed, looking interested now, almost eager.

Hannibal had often speculated as to how touch starved the young man must be. Omegas typically required a great deal of gentling and play, preferably from an alpha, which Will most certainly never allowed himself to receive. The comfort of his dogs had potentially been able to assuage some of the need, but recalling just how charmingly receptive and hungry for touch the omega had been during his heat, Hannibal was almost positive that Will would underestimate just how much he was lacking the pleasure of simple touch.

The alpha took up a bottle from the counter, popping it open and squeezing out a healthy dollop of white cream, the scent of it a similar composition to that of the aftershave; again purchased for Will’s express use.

Taking a moment again to rub his hands together to warm the cream, Hannibal then held one of his hands out, palms up, eyebrow arched in expectation.

Will mirrored the look, before hesitantly reaching out one of his own hands, shivering as Hannibal took it delicately, before enfolding it between both of his own. He allowed his grip to tighten slowly as he began to work the moisturizer in, caressing and dragging the cream along every millimeter of Will’s hand, massaging and squeezing at the rough and calloused fingers and palms.

Will’s eyes fell shut again, his head falling back with a small  _ thunk _ against the mirror at the sure touch, groaning softly.

Hannibal smiled, a purely pleased thing, filled with a surging delight at his ability to pamper and please his omega.

Their mingled scents of arousal surged as Will moaned again as Hannibal pressed his thumbs in deep along the omega’s palms.

He was responding wonderfully.

Hannibal continued the massage for long, drawn out minutes, before moving onto Will’s other hand, repeating the process with more of the lightly scented cream.

When he finished with the second hand, Will slitted his eyes open, a slight pout pulling at his lower lip. Hannibal chuckled, smirking slightly as he poured more cream into his hands. He held Will’s eyes as, with a graceful and fluid motion, he slid to his knees between Will’s spread legs.

A blush lit brightly across the omega’s features, and he made to close his legs, pulling his loosened robe back to drape more fully over his thighs. He pressed his hand against the jut of his hard cock, trying to hide his embarrassment.

Hannibal tutted, but didn’t move to stop Will, finding his continued shyness endearing.

Will twitched lightly as Hannibal took up one of his feet, running his hands gently over the arch of it, working in the cream with the same sure motions. The omega relaxed into it again, gifting Hannibal with breathy moans and sighs as the alpha massaged, digging deep into the flesh, making the younger man arch and shift at the unfamiliar and intense feeling of it.

Once again Will sat quiescent as Hannibal finished up, standing smoothly and washing his hands quickly in the sink.

The omega now looked entirely eager as Hannibal took up yet another bottle, this time a leave-in conditioner, suitable for curly hair. Will’s eyes rolled back as Hannibal dragged his hands through his lightly damp hair, the tips of the alpha’s strong fingers working into his scalp, scratching slightly, massaging and working through the strands in firm, capable movements.

The scent of slick and desire had grown, deliriously heady; mouthwatering. Will’s eyes didn’t open as Hannibal withdrew his hands, submitting to whatever the alpha wish to do to him without question.

The older man took up a final bottle, this time one of his own; a styling product that would hold Will’s hair in place.

Carefully, with delicate precision, Hannibal manipulated Will’s sweet curls, combing some back and away in an artful sweep, pulling a few others forward to hang elegantly across his forehead. Gingerly, he coaxed the omega to sit forward, Will’s head hanging loose against his chest, and quickly fixed the back of his hair, fingers twirling into small ringlets, pulling away to allow them to spring back.

“There.” Hannibal cooed, hooking his fingers up under Will’s chin. The younger man blinked up at him, glassy-eyed with pleasure and contentment. “You look divine.”

Will gave him a tremulous, irreverent smile. “Good enough to eat?”

“Absolutely.” The alpha confirmed, a devilish look on his face, maroon eyes narrowing hungrily. His scented the air deeply, the phantom taste of Will’s sweet slick coming to mind easily with the scent memory of their first time together during his rut.

The omega let out a shaky breath, cheeks heating as he looked quickly away. “I suppose we need to get dressed now?”

“Indeed.” Hannibal straightened, stepping back and away from the omega. He held his hands out, assisting Will off the counter.

The two exited the ensuite, Will slightly unsteady on his feet, body still shivering and lax from Hannibal’s touch. The alpha kept a steady hand at his back, and led him towards the outfit laid out on his bed.

Will let out a shaky breath, leaning forward to run his knuckles along the soft fabric of the cream coloured silk dress shirt. He startled when Hannibal stepped in close behind him, the alpha’s large hands hovering over the loose tie to the omega’s bathrobe.

“If I may...” The alpha requested, lips pressed up behind the shell of Will’s ear, barely touching the omega, but wrapped almost entirely around his smaller form. “I would take great pleasure in dressing you.”

Hannibal heard a shaky inhale of breath, and felt a hesitant nod. “That... might be a good idea. I don’t think I even know how to put on cufflinks.”

Humming in pleasure at Will’s deference, Hannibal pulled lightly on the tie of the robe, undoing the knot. He wrapped his hands around the open folds of it, knuckles brushing at the skin of Will’s waist, causing the younger man to shiver.

Slowly, reverently, he pulled the fabric from the omega’s body. Will’s shivering increased, but he stood, docile as Hannibal removed the robe completely, folding it and placing it on the bed next to their outfits.

Gentle hands took hold of Will’s hips, and the omega allowed himself to be turned. His eyes remained downcast, his face tense. His hands were clutched sheepishly over his still hard cock. Hannibal took his chin in one hand, tilting his face up to meet his own, offering the omega an encouraging smile. “There is nothing to be shy about, darling boy. You truly are a sight to behold.”

His other hand curled loosely around one of Will’s wrists, pulling the shielding hands down and away, revealing the omega to Hannibal completely.

“Christ...” The younger man choked out, looking overwhelmingly nervous, but allowed himself to be bared to the alpha’s gaze.

Hannibal looked his fill, dragging his eyes over the exposed skin, not bothering to mask the hunger that filled him. The omega would certainly be aware of his desire.

But still, it would not do to stare; it was impolite.

Leaning past Will, Hannibal took up the sleek silk boxer-briefs that he had bought, kneeling down again before the omega, who huffed out a startled breath. Strong fingers wrapped around Will’s ankles as he maneuvered the omega to step into the garment. Slowly, he dragged the fabric up the long, muscled line of Will’s calves and thighs, before curling his fingers gently around the hot swell of the omega’s cock, easing it into the underwear to settle carefully, curled up towards the waistband.

Will choked, bringing a hand up to fist against his mouth at the soft touch of the alpha’s hands, and Hannibal smirked up at him from his knees.

Still kneeling, Hannibal took up the suit pants, repeating the process of sliding them up Will’s body, leaving the flies gaping open, framing the tented front of his underwear. A small wet spot had begun to bead where the head of the omega’s cock pressed against the fabric, and Hannibal was willing to bet that Will’s slick was causing a similar problem near his sweetly wet hole.

Standing now, he took up the silk shirt, assisting Will with slipping his arms into the cream coloured fabric. He spent long moments feeding the mother of pearl buttons into their holes, his fingers brushing constantly against the skin of the omega’s belly, earning him near constant shivers.

His hands slid down along the back of the shirt, feeding the ends of the fabric into the back of the suit pants. He felt Will’s breath stop as Hannibal cupped both of his hands around the globes of his ass, followed by a hissed exhale as the alpha allowed one thumb to dip between them, unerringly pressing into the wet patch, dragging the finger against the omega’s hole over the fabric.

Releasing the supple flesh, Hannibal slowly pulled his hands along Will’s hips, tucking the shirt in under the waistband of the pants. He carefully adjusted the front of the shirt to fall over the bulge at the front of Will’s underwear, knuckles brushing the length of his cock as he pulled up the zipper. The omega bit into a knuckle, making a small sound.

Next, Hannibal picked up a tightly coiled leather belt, and began feeding the length of it through the loops along Will’s hips. That done, he lightly pressed Will to sit on the edge of the bed, and knelt again before the omega, pleased when the man’s legs parted easily for him.

Taking up one of Will’s feet, a mirror of the action performed recently in the bathroom, Hannibal rolled a navy sock on, fingers gliding up inside the leg of the pants to ensure it settled midway up Will’s calf, then he repeated the action with the other foot.

Shoes came next, with a sharp smell of new leather, gleaming in the low light of the room.

Hannibal reached for the cufflinks, noting how Will regarded the small items with a look of uncertainty, likely able to sense their extreme value. The alpha angled Will’s wrist as he wanted it, and fed the small square of gold into the French cuff of the silk shirt, light catching on the shine of the precious metal and the inset saltwater pearls, large and lustrous.

The alpha then had Will stand, assisting him with putting on his bright, pomegranate red suit jacket. He neatly folded a silken navy pocket square and tucked it into the front of the jacket, before drawing his fingers along the open collar of the silk dress shirt, smoothing out the lines of it; exposing the long, white column of the omega’s throat.

Just as Will had requested.

“There now.” The alpha said, raking his gaze over the final product. He felt covetous, almost regretting his choice in dressing the omega up at all. He wasn’t sure he wanted to allow others to witness it. “You look like a vision. Thank you for indulging me, William.”

Slowly, Will dropped his hand from his mouth, fingers flexing. He was staring fixedly at the ground.

His cock was still a hard line against the zip of his pants.

“I uh...t-thank  _ you _ .” The younger man stuttered out. “It... certainly felt like an indulgence for me, as well.”

Hannibal smiled, pleased with the admittance. “I am glad you feel that way. Now, I must get ready myself, which I should be able to accomplish in short order.” He looked briefly at his watch. “We should be perfectly on time. Perhaps you would like to apply your beta spray now? I will need to make use of the master bath, but you are welcome to the guest bath or the powder room downstairs. I shouldn’t be more than 15 minutes, so you may await me in the study.”

Hesitation lined Will’s frame, and Hannibal watched him curiously, wondering at the sudden tension in the omega’s shoulders. The man made an abortive movement with his hand, and then shook his head, seeming to ward off a thought. “Alright.”

The alpha watched as Will stepped away, looking down once at the outfit still laid out on the bed. Hannibal thought he caught a note of wistfulness in the gaze, but Will said nothing as he left the room.

Hannibal looked down at his suit for the evening, a sly grin ticking up his lips. Perhaps he was making some progress after all.

It would likely take some coaxing, but he hoped one day the omega would be bold enough to ask, if he wished to dress his alpha in return.


	7. Seven

Will felt over-exposed, over-stimulated, and somehow, overdressed.

Arriving at the opera house in Hannibal’s Bentley, stepping out and watching as the alpha handed off his keys to the valet, that had felt par of the course.

Stepping into the building itself, the empath was overwhelmed as he inevitably always was when faced with a sudden crush of humanity; colours, noises, movement; that wasn’t unexpected.

But the crowd was definitely different from what he’d anticipated. There were families; children dressed up in little mini tuxes, little girls dressed in what looked like Halloween store princess gowns. Men wearing jeans, t shirts. Women wearing running shoes, faces bare of makeup, hair up in messy buns.

Of course there were people dressed like he and Hannibal as well, done up to the nines and reeking of money.

But it was just... so much to take in.

Will tensed for a moment as he felt Hannibal step closer to him, the alpha’s large, warm hand finding the small of his back as it always did, but then Will let himself relax into it; into Hannibal.

He calmed, marginally.

“We will check our coats, and then move to the VIP lounge.” Hannibal explained softly, guiding Will along.

Will allowed Hannibal to divest him of his coat, shivering more at the knowledge of the astronomical cost of the thing than at the chill of losing it’s warmth. Though the cut and style seemed fairly commonplace - a knee length navy peacoat, made of thick, merino blend wool - it had still managed to cost a cool three thousand dollars. Will had fought Hannibal on that purchase, managing to strong-arm the man into purchasing a cheaper option.

The first one the alpha had pulled had somehow managed to cost almost seven thousand.

The hand on his back returned, and then they were off, heading to the more exclusive section of the venue. Hannibal had dressed himself to match Will perfectly, his own dark navy suit drawing it’s palate from Will’s pocket square, and somehow, he had found a tie in the exact shade of pomegranate red, fastened with a tie pin of gold and pearl inlay.

They climbed a flight of stairs, Hannibal striding confidently towards a cordoned off area through a wide set of double doors, guarded by a single, blank faced employee done up in a full black uniform.

“Good evening, Charles.” The doctor greeted, nodding his recognition at the man, who returned the nod with a small grin.

“Doctor Lecter.” The man’s eyes quickly turned to Will, curiosity brimming behind his dark brown eyes. Thankfully, he didn’t comment on Will’s presence, merely waved one hand out in welcome, directing them into the VIP lounge without question.

Will felt a moment of panic wash over him as he took in the spectacle of it. High ceilings scrolled with decorative plaster designs, monstrously huge gold and crystal chandeliers that looked to defy physics, ready to rain crushing death down on the various socialites milling under them.

The omega allowed himself to slip into the vision of it. Shards of glass and cries of terror.

_ What he wouldn’t give. _ ..

At first, their entry had gone relatively unremarked. People were wrapped up in their own little bubbles of conversation, insular pods of self-involved rich people, shimmering with jewelry and bedecked in suits that cost more than most people’s cars.

Slowly though, heads began to turn. Only a few at first, but to Will’s dismay, there was suddenly a tide of movement, eyes cutting across to them, a swell of murmurs rising and cresting over the room.

“Why are they all  _ staring _ ?” Will demanded in a low hiss, body beginning to lock up.

Before the taller man could respond, their first contender swept in, a sharklike look on her thin face. Her eager grin was a slash of burgundy; a perfect match to her floor length dress.

“Irene,” Hannibal stepped forward to embrace the woman, tone genuinely warm, and kissed the air on either side of her cheeks. “How good to see you. You look lovely this evening, as always.”

“How good to see  _ me?! _ ” She crowed, stepping back to hold him at arm’s length, looking him over. Her dark, heavily-lined eyes sparkled with good humour coupled with a vicious sort of glee. “I never thought I’d see the day,” she tugged the sleeve of the alpha’s dark navy suit, giving him a teasing look. “that you would  _ deign _ to play second fiddle when it came to your outfits. You always look fit to outdress the sun, and yet here you are.” She turned a conspiratorial, probing look on Will, clearly admiring the dramatic style and bold colour of his suit in contrast. He looked far more ostentatious than the alpha. “Clearly playing the supporting role for once. And who might this shining star be?”

Will met the omega woman’s inquisitive gaze directly, and held his hand out to shake, not caring a whit for the proper protocol of greeting an omega. She gave him an impressed look and shook it as he introduced himself. “Will Graham; pleasure to meet you.”

“I assure you, the pleasure is  _ all _ mine.” She chided. “ _ I _ am Irene Komeda, but you must call me Irene. Any friend of Hannibal’s is a friend of mine. Though honestly, I’m feeling a little less friendly toward him at this particular moment. How is it that our dear doctor has managed to hide you from me? I haven’t seen you before now, yet here you are. Resplendent and very obviously  _ together _ .” She turned an arch look on the alpha. “A whirlwind romance, or are you just keeping secrets from me, Hannibal?”

“I must maintain some mystery, Irene.” Hannibal defended, though there was a twinkle of amusement in his eyes. “And William and I are simply co-workers.”

The heavy ring of the unspoken ‘ _ for now’ _ caused her dark eyes to widen, and she shot Will a wolfish grin. “How utterly charming. I can see why he is so absolutely taken with you. An alpha always loves when their conquests play hard to get.”

Will flushed, marvelling at the woman’s open assessment of Hannibal’s feelings. Was the alpha really that obvious? “I assure you, I’m not playing at anything.”

Irene snorted, somehow managing to make the noise sound dignified. “You might feel that way now, but honestly, if I may be so bold as to provide a suggestion...” She leaned in, intimately close, and whispered into Will’s ear. “Let him have his way with you. It will be entirely worth it, and you might rethink your stance. He really is  _ quite _ good.”

“Irene, that is hardly an appropriate thing to say.” Hannibal chided, clearly unimpressed by the direction of the conversation.

Will felt a flare of something like jealousy burn up in him, at the knowing tone of her voice. Irene was certainly a beautiful, mature omega. The skin of her neck was bare, marking her as likely a life-long bachelorette. Only an exceedingly rich omega could possibly hope of avoiding a bond and being so open about it. He should hardly be surprised that Hannibal would have slept with her, or any number of other people. He certainly did have a taste for eccentricities.

Will tried to quash the feeling, keeping his face a mask of polite interest.

“Come now, Hannibal. I’m hardly one to kiss and tell, you know, but I  _ am _ trying to do you a favour.” The older omega pouted, looking up at the alpha through her lashes. At Hannibal’s sigh of acceptance, she continued on, curiosity only peaked. “Now, how did you two meet?”

“I’m a professor at WSU, in their psychology department.” Will cut in, easily rolling with the prepared line; a misleading truth. He did have an adjunct professorship at the University, and occasionally gave guest lectures. “We met working on a project together.”

“Hmm... I could have guessed as much.” Irene said with pursed lips, impressed. “You must be quite an intelligent man, to have caught this one’s interest. Hannibal is hardly one to suffer fools. Though I must say, it has been quite a while since I’ve seen someone on his arm... In fact, wasn’t the last time when you brought that older alpha man, a few years back now?”

Will’s eyebrows shot up, and he couldn’t help but turn an incredulous look up at the alpha. His reaction was likely rude. Queer relationships were still few and far between, and if anyone was about to flout societal norms, it would be Hannibal Lecter. Still, Will should be more accepting. He found himself having to school his expression, and having to push down the roar of jealousy as it reared its ugly head again.

God, this was just the first conversation of the evening, and Will already felt completely wrung out.

“You are correct in your recollection.” Hannibal allowed, though didn’t look as though he would add more on the topic.

Irene jumped in for him easily. “I believe that was just before the bill for same-sex marriage was submitted in Washington, wasn’t it? And you had invited Senator Kelly to attend your dinner party.” She squinted her eyes in mirth. “Rather a heavy-handed tactic than what you normally employ, but one that appears to have been successful. If I’m recalling correctly.” She paused, then added suggestively. “And your date did appear rather _ pleased  _ with his own part in it, as well.”

“I saw an opportunity to help improve the world in some small way, and I took it.” Hannibal shrugged, the movement nonchalant. “There is no reason we as a society should be denying ourselves certain  _ pleasures _ . I am nothing, if not a hedonist.”

Irene gave a delighted laugh, clapping in appreciation. “Certainly you are; you are gluttony personified. And always so eager to turn heads. The stir you’re causing is simply titillating; one of Baltimore’s most sought after Alpha bachelors, now with a gorgeous young beta on his arm.” She tapped Hannibal on the arm, looking suddenly reproachful. “And speaking of which, when is your next dinner party? You ought to have Will as your guest of honour. A feast in his name!”

Will thought he might start laughing and never stop. Hannibal had never been described so aptly. “I’m afraid I’m far too modest for such a...  _ display _ .” The younger man caught Hannibal’s eye, feeling the amusement of their shared, secret knowledge crackle between them.

“Nonsense. Hannibal, I will expect my invitation to arrive within the next month. Surely  _ this _ is enough inspiration for you to work your art? He is a  _ muse _ made flesh.”

Hannibal turned his maroon gaze to Will, looking down at him with painful fondness. “You are entirely correct, Irene. I will certainly be in touch.”

Irene nodded firmly, having finally gotten what she wanted. “Well then. I best ought to let you meet the rest of the wolves.” She shot Will a quick wink. “Luck!”

With that, she swept away, easily joining another cluster of people nearby. Will felt her energy leave him, and suddenly felt exhausted.

Hannibal seemed to notice the shift in the younger man, and he quickly gave a short squeeze to his nape, before running his hand soothingly down the omega’s back.

Will shivered and sighed, but then bucked up; determination on his face. “Who’s next?”

***

Will had been... transported.

He had never been to the opera, and had told Hannibal as much during their ride over, the admission prickly. Certainly he had listened to individual pieces before. He had read synopses and lyrics, had learned their cultural impact, always striving to broaden his knowledge.

Anything could help with a case.

The alpha had given him a pleased hum when Will had told him he knew the entire plot of  _ Carmen _ . He was proud that Will had thought to brush up on it again before this evening’s performance.

But then Hannibal had taken it upon himself to explain the entire socio-political and  general historical context surrounding the opera’s creation, the breadth and depth of his knowledge staggering, and  _ that  _ had made all the difference in the world, it seemed.

The empath had never witnessed a live production; had never been so suffused with the explosion of colours and sounds; saturated by the emotions and gravitas of the music and singing, the  _ spirit _ of it.

It was rapturous.

At some point their hands had found each other, and though Will normally would have abhorred such intimate yet simple contact, he’d felt tethered by it, moored and anchored by the alpha’s presence as he felt his mind drift, caught up in the maelstrom of Carmen’s story, her  _ mezzo-soprano  _ voice beckoning him out to sea like a siren’s call.

When he came back to himself, they were applauding. He felt a large hand cup his cheek as the noise died down. Gently, Hannibal brushed away a few small tears, fixing Will with an utterly besotted look, eyes brimming with emotions and tears of his own.

Will looked into those dark, fathomlessly deep eyes, and couldn’t help but think that this was one of the most beautiful, perfect times of his entire existence. He wanted to draw away from the world for one precious moment of peace; cocooned away from it all just to bask in  _ this _ . He wanted to bask in Hannibal; to talk about what he’d just witnessed, what he’d  _ experienced,  _ to glory and revel in it; to share it. He wanted to melt away into the feelings, into Hannibal, who had given him this, who had let Will into himself, for this one brief taste of the alpha’s inner thoughts and serenity.

The alpha’s expression turned soft, apologetic, as though he could read Will’s desires so easily. “I’m afraid we have a job to do still, my dear boy.”

Will nodded into Hannibal’s cupped palm, bringing his own hands up to rub roughly at his face. “You’re right. We should... we should get back out there.”

Hannibal nodded in agreement, wrapping his arm around Will’s back with an easy, practiced motion. “The intermission will only last around twenty minutes, but there only a few more wolves yet to meet.”

With a swell and press of bodies, the theater emptied back out into the various foyers, each level hosting it’s own little minibar and standing areas for guests to mill about. They left the general host and migrated back toward the VIP area, Hannibal and Will both now nodding to Charles, who admitted them to the exclusive area with another easy grin.

Before the first act, they had marked only six potential male-male alpha-omega pairs in attendance. Male omegas being so incredibly uncommon, it was hardly a surprise that there were so few in attendance. The challenge had been in how eager many of Hannibal’s acquaintances had been in waylaying them; all but chomping at the bit to meet the sweet young thing that the doctor had brought to the event.

They were almost all cordial enough on the surface, but Will could read the distaste and excitement at the prospect of the successful alpha being with a mere  _ beta _ . They spoke mainly to Hannibal, barely bothering to look at him, and only then with poorly hidden leers and sexual interest rolling off them in waves.

Will was having a hard time covering his own amusement at witnessing Hannibal in his element. He almost barked out a loud chuckle as Hannibal managed to subtly and single-handedly destroy an engagement with a few well placed comments to a number of different groups.

Hannibal raised a curious eyebrow at him as they departed from the most recent cluster of people, and Will looked back at him, truly impressed. “I think I’m finally beginning to understand why you enjoy these types of events. It’s like watching an old testament god mete out punishments to eager followers. They hardly know what you’re doing to them, and yet they ask you for more.”

“I hardly know what you’re referring to, dear Will.” Hannibal deflected, but there was dark humour in his eyes.

Will shot him a look, rolling his eyes. “Don’t think I didn’t notice that little gossip game you just played with that newly engaged couple. And I’ve scarcely ever heard worse relationship and life advice in my life. You’re feeding them all ridiculous ideas and they eat them all up.”

Hannibal gave a non-committal hum, and carefully maneuvered them past a group of people who were eyeing them with an intense amount of interest, and instead managed to put them on a course to finally intercept one of the last two couples of interest.

The alpha had set them on a convincingly circuitous course; rather than seeking all their potential killers one after the other, he had led them in a weaving pattern, staggering out their meetings to avoid arousing suspicions.

So far, no one had marked Will as  _ the _ Will Graham, and had accepted the lie of him being a mere professor of psychology with no hints of recognition.

“Mr. Matheson.” Hannibal began, addressing the alpha of the pair with a deferential nod of his head. Barely a dip, but enough to act as that weird appeasement that alphas seemed to require as greeting. The beefy brunette nodded slightly as well, raising a glass of whiskey in acknowledgment.

Hannibal then gave a minor bow to the omega at his side, a slight, pallid looking middle-aged man, who despite looking mildly ill was still undoubtedly gorgeous with shining blonde hair and glimmering green eyes. His outfit was immaculate; a true omegan cut suit that cinched tight at the waist before flaring out in a spray of light blue fabric, accentuating the width of his hips. “I do not believe I have had the pleasure of meeting your omega, for which I am deeply regretful. My name is Hannibal Lecter, and this is my dear friend, Will.”

The omega eyed him, and Will watched as his nose flared, taking in the scent of the alpha from afar. He didn’t bother to look at Will, but instead looked to his own alpha.

There was a... disquiet there. A small pulling down of the omega’s sweet red lips, a minor furrow of his brows. All microexpressions, but nevertheless, Will was picking up on some sort of agitation in the omega.

He tried to watch him closely without appearing overly interested.

“I don’t believe we’ve ever crossed paths at a social gathering, Dr. Lecter.” The alpha commented, almost accusatory. His words we slightly slurred, slightly too loud. “And it’s rare I bring my omega out, but he’s been complaining a lot lately about being bored, haven’t you, Christian?”

Will bristled at the tone, and Hannibal managed to somehow put on a show of slightly feigned commiseration. “Well then it is a pleasure to have come across the two of you together on such a rare outing. I hope you’ve enjoyed the night so far?”

The alpha gave a shrug, “I was never much for opera, but a lot of my clients are here, so it’s basically part of the job, unfortunately.” He peered at Hannibal through squinted eyes. “I don’t suppose that you’d be interested in reconsidering your opinions on being one of those, would you?”

“I’m afraid that I still have quite the strong partnership with my current pharmaceutical provider, Mr. Matheson, but I appreciate your doggedness in pursuing me.” Which, of course, Will read as rather the exact opposite. “Though if you were to pass along your business card, I could potentially refer you to some colleagues.”

Will watched with interest as the man handed over his card eagerly, and almost laughed as Hannibal slid the small white rectangle into his inner breast pocket, a moment of realization dawning on him.

_ Fucking business cards? Really? _

“But enough about business. I must admit that I didn’t know you had found an omega to bond with. Is this a relatively new occurrence, or...?”

The other alpha snorted, his expression long-suffering. Will could read the fury building in the omega’s body language. “Nope, I’m afraid I’ve been shackled to this one for the last... what is it, seven or eight years? Got him when he was a sweet little thing. Though honestly, I can’t help but feeling going the beta route might’ve worked out better for me. Would’ve been a lot easier to play around. You’re definitely a smart man, Dr. Lecter. I can’t tell you how much money I’ve sunk into fertility treatments for this faulty bitch.”

Stunned, both Will and Christian stared at the alpha in disbelief at the comment.

“It is incredibly rude to refer to your bonded with such language.” Hannibal chided. “Perhaps you should consider calling a cab to head home early. I do believe your drink has caught up to you.”

Scoffing, the other alpha pointed accusingly towards his omega. “You don’t know the half of it, Lecter. He might seem like a sweet little angel to you now, but he’s a complete demon at home. Swearing and blaming  _ me _ for everything under the sun. He dares to suggest that it might be  _ my  _ fault that the bitch can’t get pregnant.” He laughed, clearly finding the thought of it ridiculous.

“Mark.” The omega hissed, arm lashing out to squeeze the alpha’s upper arm with a white knuckled grip. “You’re being  _ ridiculous _ . Let’s just go home.”

The alpha rolled his eyes, once again shooting Hannibal a put-upon look, as though the other alpha might understand. Hannibal’s face was stony, and Will could sense the placid calmness of his anger under it.

With a final off-colour comment about omegas, the man allowed himself to be dragged out.

Will blinked, honestly stunned by the conversation. He felt his own hatred mirroring the emotion coming off Hannibal. His distaste for the man...

Honestly though, it couldn’t be  _ that _ easy, could it? “I guess I have something to go back to Jack with...”

Hannibal nodded, lips still a thin, unamused line.

“I don’t suppose I could have that business card?”

The alpha reached inside of his suit again, withdrawing the card and handing it to Will, who took it gingerly.

Overhead, there was a light, bell-like chime. Will looked up, and was unsurprised when Hannibal wrapped his arm around him gently. “That would be our cue to return to our seats for the second act.”

They made their way back through the throngs, soon seated front and centre before the stage, in the most expensive seats of the house, and Will let himself go. Back into the cool, calm appreciation of Hannibal’s mindset.

He found himself enjoying the second half of  _ Carmen _ just as much as he could have hoped. Their ride home was filled with enlivened conversation, Hannibal clearly greatly pleased with Will’s excitement and enjoyment of their evening, happily answering the multitude of questions Will had regarding the opera, and responding with some of his own theories when Will shared his thoughts on the performances and symbolism in the story.

To their shared delight, they had decided to brush up on Will’s rusty French skills as they talked, deciding that the  _ lingua franca  _ of the opera’s performance would be the best medium in which to discuss their thoughts.

Will allowed Hannibal to usher him back into the alpha’s home, over the threshold and into the man’s room. He allowed the alpha to pull the suit from him, piece by piece. He allowed Hannibal to dress Will in his own, slightly too large pyjamas, and finally, he allowed the man to tuck him into the guest bedroom.

The door snicked shut, plunging the room into blackness.

Will stared up into the dark, eyes unseeing.

He laid there awake, for hours.


	8. Seven

“Hannibal, thanks for returning my call.” Jack greeted through the phone, voice tinny yet noticeably tired. “We... have a situation. I was hoping you could come take a look. I have some suspicions, as does Will, but I’d rather have as many opinions as possible. It’s... It’s... worrying, if our suspicions are correct.”

“Certainly.” Hannibal agreed easily, both curious and hopeful in equal measure. “I’ve about an hour between now and my next appointment. You can text me the address.”

Jack agreed, ending the call and sending a short text in quick succession. Hannibal clicked the address, pulling it up on the map on his phone.

It was close enough; perhaps only a 15 minute drive from his office. He tidied up, swept on his coat, locked the doors, and was gone within minutes.

Flashing red and blue lights guided him easily to the spot where Jack needed him. The address had been to a small medical clinic, located just outside of the city centre. A bell chimed in welcome as Hannibal strode into the small building. He had been waved past the police line with little fuss, having been recognized by Beverly, who greeted him with a morbid, shrugging smile. She had given him a thumbs up as he’d ducked under the police tape, “Good job on finally getting Will to shave his beard off!”

Jack and Will stood in the waiting room immediately inside the door. As always, Hannibal took a moment to breathe deeply of the air around Will as he came to stand beside the omega, and was slightly surprised by the sheer amount of hormones he detected. He peered around in a quick sweep, noting the signage on the walls of the small clinic.

A fertility treatment centre.

Hope bloomed further in his chest, and he smiled down at Will in greeting, before shaking Jack’s hand. “Hello Will, Jack.”

Jack nodded at him, expression grave. “Will has already taken a look at the scene. I’d like to have you check it out on your own, before we share any details.”

Hannibal arched a pale brow, “You wish to ensure an unbiased reaction.”

Jack nodded, then gestured to the open door just beside the reception desk. “Second door on the right just through there.”

Following the instruction, Hannibal walked towards the crime scene, a feeling of anticipation tingling through him. Rarely had he ever felt such an intensity of emotion, and much as he wanted to tamp down on it as he normally would have, he let it run rampant.

Will’s face had been an almost perfect mask, when he had returned Hannibal’s greeting, but there was something of a smile playing around his lips, a shine to his stormy blue eyes.

Stepping into the examination room, Hannibal allowed a moment to simply take it all in. He breathed deeply, raking his eyes across the entirety of the scene; committing it to memory.

It was art.

Mark Matheson lay strapped to the examination table, naked and completely exposed. His legs were set into the stirrups, which were normally exclusively used for female betas and omegas.

His genitals had been removed, violently and in much the same manner as they had been in the series of murders leading up to this. His abdomen had been opened up as well, his hands had been sawed off, and his mouth was open in a silent scream; bereft of a tongue. His wounds were raw, gaping maws of red, glistening with little pearls of viscera, white bone, and teeth.

Before the table was knelt a second figure. This one had a bright halo of golden blonde hair. Christian Matheson.

Hannibal had to move further into the room, stepping to the foot of the table in order to see the front of Christian’s body.

He had been opened up as well, a full Y incision from abdomen to collar bones. Hannibal leaned forward, peering into the ripped open rib cage.

The omega’s eyes had been removed as well, leaving gaping sockets that trailed tears of red down the pale, dead flesh of his cheeks.

Between them, on the floor, were their reproductive organs. Dropped into a messy pile.

_ Both useless, worthless _ .

The omega’s removed eyes had been left perched upon the counter, resting upon a sheaf of medical results; a positive test for fertility. They sat, green with envy.

Hannibal took another moment to admire the work, hope singing through his veins now.

The omega’s heart was missing.

***

“The murders appear to mirror the methods of the Chesapeake Ripper.” Hannibal began, recapping his assessment of the scene to both Jack and Will, his expression thoughtful, musing. “The artistic and symbolic staging, the organ removal... Though, it is lacking in the surgical precision that is normally a hallmark of the Ripper’s work. I am hesitant to ascribe it to the Ripper for that reason alone... Perhaps a copycat?”

Jack and Will were nodding along, Jack’s features dark, looking grim, Will biting at his lower lip, as if lost in thought.

“A second Ripper.” Jack snarled, prowling back and forth in front of the reception desk in the waiting room. “Just what I need. You both think that it’s different enough? It’s definitely another killer?”

Will adopted a look of commiserate worry. “There were too many differences... It has its own... style.”

“Yes,” Hannibal agreed, also adopting an affected tone. “These murders are slightly more rough; unrefined yet deliberate. This killer has a very clear vision and is capable of executing it. But tonally, to me at least, it reads as more vengeful than the Ripper usually is. I believe I recall Will referring to the Ripper’s murders as being cold and methodical. This killer strikes me as passionate and dynamic. It reads almost as an homage, but it is certainly it’s own style.”

Jack was nodding again, still pacing, looking beyond irritated. Will slipped a look his way from under his lashes, almost coy.

Hannibal sent him his own veiled, heated look. He desperately wanted to get the omega alone. He quickly looked down at his watch.

“I’m afraid that I will need to return to my office in order to attend my next patient. I trust I will hear from you regarding any further findings after the autopsies and the scene have been fully processed?”

Will stepped closer, that coy look still on his face. “I’ll head back with the team to the lab now to take a look at the bodies. Perhaps it would be easier for me to meet with you after your appointments? A late dinner maybe?” He leaned even closer, breathing out the next words lowly enough that only Hannibal could hear. “I’ll bring the meat...”

Hannibal paused for only a fraction of a second. His pulse had ticked up considerably, despite his usual control. “That would be lovely, Will. I shall see you this evening.”

***

Such a familiar action; opening his front door to admit the younger man into his home. Yet this time, he felt an electricity and poignancy in the air as he moved through the action. Will looked as sweetly chilled as he often did, fresh from the cold with rosy cheeks and red, bitten lips. His chocolate brown curls had grown longer in the time since they’d met, and they trailed charmingly along his forehead, free from a hat that would have warded off the late November chill.

Keen blue eyes stared up at him from the front step, his glasses absent, and Hannibal smiled down at him, maroon eyes crinkling with genuine pleasure at the sight of him.

“My dear Will.” Hannibal greeted, stepping aside to admit the younger man. “Please, come in from the cold.”

They repeated an old dance, with Hannibal allowing himself the pleasure of removing Will’s outerwear. This time though, he allowed himself to move in closer; inappropriately intimate as he dragged his nose along Will’s neck as he unwound the scarf from it. Will submitted to the gesture, smirking at the older man.

The omega’s scent grew yet more perfect by the day, and to his great pleasure, it was clear that the man had showered since the crime scene earlier; his scent pure and unmasked. Will had always captivated him, yet now he was utterly enthralling to Hannibal. The scent of  _ mate _ lay thick on his tongue.

The two took the familiar steps in tandem into the kitchen, to the heart of Hannibal’s home, and there they paused, the weight of the moment pressing around them like a blanket; expectation rife in the air.

Will caught Hannibal’s eye, taking a step forward, closer. Slowly, he raised the small cooler he was carrying, and pressed it into Hannibal’s hands. “A gift; one that I hope you find... acceptable.”

Hannibal took the container, eyes trained on the omega, who looked for all the world as though he was nervous; unsure if his alpha would accept this most splendid offering. Teeth sunk into his lower lip, eyes downcast, scent uncertain. He was beguiling.

Setting the container on the counter, Hannibal opened it, knowing what it was yet succumbing nonetheless to a heightened state of anticipation. Packed on ice and wrapped with great care was a human heart; no less than what Hannibal expected, yet still, it stole his breath. Steady fingers reached in, sliding under the cool organ to cup it, lifting it up to admire it in the light. It was a vibrant red still; perfect beyond words.

Hannibal turned, holding the heart up between them, and fixed Will with a fierce look, hunger bright in his eyes.

“This is a most precious gift, my dear William.” Hannibal breathed, awed. “One that I would honour with every inch of my life, with every fiber of my being. In giving this to me, you would set us on a path... Are you sure you wish to travel down it, with me?”

Will offered him a smile; a gorgeous, tremulous thing. “There’s never been anything that I’ve wanted more in my life.”

Hannibal continued to watch him, serious yet enchanted. “You would accept me, all that I am? You would knowingly choose to bind yourself to me, to death do us part?”

The omega let out a dark, self-deprecating chuckle. “I’m tired of running, of fighting it. Fighting us - fighting my own nature. How could I deny you, when I have the very same darkness within me, waiting to be free? How can I deny myself the chance to know myself fully in you?”

A hungry smile stretched over Hannibal’s face at the admittance, at the  _ potential _ . He paused then, turning to slowly place the still-cool heart into the refrigerator with careful, deliberate movements. “Then I will not stop until you are mine, this time.”

“I’m not asking you to.” Will returned, with a feral grin of his own. “I have every intention to give just as good as I get.”

Hannibal’s gaze caught on Will’s canines as he read the meaning of the words, read the eager look that his omega had fixed on Hannibal’s own neck. He pressed forward, pinning Will against the granite countertop of his kitchen island, leaning forward to breathe Will in, allowing his omega to scent along his neck. They both shivered.

“You still haven't even kissed me yet...” Will admonished, pressing his lips against the hinge of Hannibal’s jaw. Hannibal growled as the younger man opened his mouth, pressing his teeth teasingly into the alpha’s skin.

“An oversight for which I am  _ terribly _ remiss.” With sharp movement, Hannibal slid his hands into Will’s curls, using them as leverage to pull his omega away from his neck.

Grip still tight, Hannibal descended upon Will’s plush lips, spending a few, sweet moments simply pressing rough, sucking kisses against the omega’s mouth, before finally sweeping in with an eager tongue. Humming at the taste, Hannibal forced his way in, lapping slickly against the omega’s own tongue, licking along the roof of his mouth.

Using the grip on his omega’s hair, Hannibal tilted Will’s head up and plunged deep with his tongue, roughly fucking into the younger man’s mouth, moaning at how easily Will opened for him, allowing him in.

When the alpha pulled back, Will was panting, nearly breathless after the assault, his pupils already blown wide and smelling strongly of arousal. Hannibal kissed at Will’s pleased smile, before dropping easily to his knees on the hardwood beneath them.

Will blinked blown out blue eyes down at him almost deliriously, still visibly shaken from their kiss. Hesitant fingers slid into Hannibal’s fine ashen hair as the alpha undid the younger man’s belt and zippers, sliding his pants down to mid-thigh. Will’s pretty omegan cock slapped up against his belly, already fully hard from the simple pleasure of kissing; easy and eager for his alpha.

Already, Hannibal could smell the sweet drip of slick coming from his boy; but that was not his current goal.

Gasping, Will’s fingers convulsed, clutching at Hannibal’s hair as a large hand wrapped around his balls, thumb and forefinger circling around the base of his dick, angling the head of it up and into the wet heat of Hannibal’s greedy mouth. Hannibal purred as he listened to Will’s shuddering breath, felt the shivering of his thighs.

The alpha pressed a supportive and staying hand against Will’s hip, and began to suckle at the tip.

Will seemed to bask in the simple attention his cock was being paid, his breathing deep and shaky. It took him long, heady moments to begin to grow impatient, but Hannibal refused him when he attempted to buck his hips up into the alpha’s mouth, allowing the sharp hint of his canines to rest under the ridge of the head held just inside of his mouth.

Maroon eyes were watching as blue opened, mildly irate yet still clouded with lust. Just as a question began to form on those red lips, Hannibal sucked  _ harder _ , dragging his tongue in languorous circles around the crown, dipping into the slit and  _ flicking _ .

Will gasped, and Hannibal hummed in pleasure at the exquisite taste that had finally rewarded his actions. He drew his mouth almost completely off, sucking a pearly drop of pre-come from the tip of Will’s cock.

Still hungry for more, Hannibal allowed his lips to slip back down over the crown, dragging his tongue around and under the hard ridge at the base of the head, swirling up and back over the tip. Sharpening the tip of his tongue, he began to fuck it into the slit of Will’s cock, a gentle, inexorable motion.

Will keened, yanking at Hannibal’s hair. The alpha tightened his grip around the omega’s balls, squeezing the base of the omega’s cock until the keen turned into a choked noise of hurt, and finally Will withdrew his hands, moving instead to clutch at the counter, knuckles white.

Humming in approval, Hannibal continued his ministrations, pulling back again to press his lips against the weeping tip of Will’s cock, before slipping back down to suck at just the head, laving attention on the sensitive frenulum with quick flicks of his tongue, before teasing the same spot with the hinting scrape of teeth.

Will was shaking, gasping and whimpering as Hannibal eked out little tastes of his pre-come, edging him and edging him until Hannibal could smell that he was close.

Ensuring that his hold on the omega’s hips was firm, Hannibal looked up, catching Will’s eyes as he pulled back, opening his mouth and resting the swollen and reddened tip of Will’s cock on the flat of his tongue. Slowly, he unclasped the tight ring of his thumb and forefinger from around the base of Will’s cock, and began to drag his thumb up the throbbing underside, trailing it inch after gruelling inch, running over the smooth skin and hot veins, until the tip of his thumb caught against his own, plush lower lip.

And then back down it went, dragging at a torturously slow pace. Down and down and down until his thumb pressed into the space just above Will’s balls, before the process repeated all over again.

Will’s eyes were wet as he looked down at Hannibal; his face the picture of exquisite agony. He was St. Sebastian; laid bare and helpless before the arrows of the Romans.

“Oh G-god.” Will breathed out. His cock was twitching, bouncing against Hannibal’s tongue, beading out drop after drop of pre-come to pool in the alpha’s mouth. “Fuck... what... what the fuck are you doing to me?!”

Hannibal allowed his eyes to crinkle in pleasure, keeping up the slow drag of his thumb, holding Will down; making him take it.

“I... I feel like I’m going to come...” Will whispered, almost unbelieving. He was breathing hard, eyes filled with desperation. “Please, touch me properly... It... it  _ hurts _ .”

Hannibal only hummed, and waited.

Finally, with a sobbing shudder, Will’s cock began to pulse out a weak, steady trickle of come, and Hannibal stopped the slow drag of his thumb, simply letting the head of Will’s cock rest against his tongue as the viscous fluid pooled in his mouth, the omega slowly, slowly peaking, his orgasm a small, pathetic thing as he cried and shook as he came.

Finally, Will slumped, completely rung out as he leaned back on the counter on his elbows, eyelashes wet with tears, cheek flushed, mouth open with harsh pants.

Hannibal closed his mouth around the omega’s cock, sucking out the last of the younger man’s come, letting it all sit on his tongue, thick and  _ delicious _ .

Maroon eyes held shimmeringly wet blue ones as he finally swallowed, a sated look on his face.

“What... what the  _ fuck _ was that?!” Will demanded, still sounding overwhelmed, his body wracked in shivers.

Hannibal hummed, still savoring the lingering taste of the omega; finally having gotten to sample this particular taste. “That, my sweet boy, would be described as a ‘ruined’ orgasm.”

Will huffed out a noise of disbelief, glaring down at the older man. “Of course it is, and of course  _ you _ would enjoy doing that to me.”

Hannibal tutted, smiling up at the omega. “It was certainly done for my own enjoyment, but I very much thought you might have appreciated it as well. I believe I have quite an... _ intimate _ understanding of your sexual wants. You seem to have had a rather strong reaction to it.”

Will went to argue, but suddenly found himself spun around, front now pressed to the kitchen island. His noise of surprise derailed into one of pleasure as Hannibal licked straight into his hole, tongue sliding easily through the copious amount of slick.

The alpha gave a pleased rumble not only at the omega’s sweet taste, but at the wanton, unabashed noise of delight the younger man let out, and at the sheer amount of slick he found.

The omega was extraordinarily wet, the sweet taste of it unpolluted by any foreign hints of suppressants or medications, leaving it a pure, deliciously heady flavour that Hannibal lapped up greedily. He’d wanted so desperately to taste this during Will’s heat, and had only gotten the smallest hint of it when he’d eaten the boy out during his rut, when he had first taken the omega.

Taking a long, revelatory breath of the heavenly scent of him, Hannibal pressed in deep, his cheeks smearing wetly into the slick, tonguing into the omega’s eager hole, fucking into it just as he had into the omega’s slit, into his mouth. The boy took him so easily, so hungrily.

Groaning himself, Hannibal lapped up the sweet slick, sucking and licking and biting at his sopping wet hole until Will was shaking again, rising up on his tippy-toes and rutting his hardening cock into the cabinets. He was positively dripping, eager to get wet for his alpha, trying to get ready to take his cock; his  _ knot. _

Gorgeous as his little omega was, on the verge of release and chasing his orgasm, this was not what Hannibal had planned for him.

With one last sucking kiss to the omega’s red, swollen entrance, Hannibal pulled away, earning himself a growling whine, Will’s hips humping back, trying to get the alpha’s mouth back on him.

“Hannibal, I swear to God.” Will hissed, turning a seething look back at him as the alpha stood.

“Hush now, darling.” He soothed, taking the omega’s still shifting hips in his large hands, pulling him away from the island. “This was merely a taste... an  _ amuse bouche _ , if you would. I can hardly lay claim to my mate in the kitchen.”

Will rolled his eyes, allowing the alpha to manhandle him. “I wouldn’t put it past you; actually, I kind of  _ expected _ the kitchen, but it was silly of me to assume you’d be lacking enough higher brain power to sully your counters. That, and I suppose you’d prefer a more romantic setting.”

Hannibal swept the omega up into his arms, offering him a besotted smile. “You deserve a bed for our first coupling as bound mates, darling boy. Though, you might be surprised at what I would allow, after we have consummated our bond.”

The omega gave him an appraising look, a leer in his eyes, but allowed himself to be carried up, bridal style, to the alpha’s room.

Entering the room, Hannibal set the smaller man on the end of the bed, kneeling before him once again, this time to divest the omega of his shoes, socks, and pants.

That done, he reached up and with a sharp motion, ripped Will’s shirt apart, scattering the buttons in a cascade of soft  _ plinks _ around his bed.

“Seriously? You really hate my shirts that much?” Will asked in disbelief, frowning down at the smiling alpha.

“They are quite horrendous.” Hannibal admitted, but continued in a conciliatory tone, “Yet somehow they do manage to look quite charming on you.”

Will huffed out a laugh as Hannibal pulled his plain white t-shirt away, tossing it carelessly aside. Hannibal began to pull back when he suddenly felt Will’s hands on his own chest, grasping his own shirt and ripping it apart, an echo of  _ plinks _ sounding again as the alpha blinked at Will, frozen for a moment.

Will grinned up at him mischievously. “And your shirts certainly look  _ charming  _ on you as well. And pretentious as hell. I’d apologize, but I’m sure you could afford a hundred more.”

Hannibal met Will’s grin with an indulgent look of his own. Slowly, he began to remove his own clothing, watching Will carefully. “I could.”

“I’ve been curious. I’m aware that you were a surgeon, and are now a very successful psychiatrist who caters to elite clientele, as well as a Consultant for the FBI on the side, meaning you must be fairly well off. But your lifestyle... it’s old money, isn’t it?”

The older man nodded, unsurprised that the empath had come to that conclusion through his observations. He continued stripping his own clothes as he answered. “I could keep my lifestyle quite easily with my current earnings and investments, as I’ve ensure to diversify my assets into a number of different strategic high and low risk ventures. I own a great deal of properties, but I have also dabbled in the lucrative antiquities and art trade. However you are entirely correct. My uncle did well to manage our family’s estate before he passed, and I have a great deal of land holdings back in Europe, including our ancestral home in Lithuania. I am technically Count Hannibal Lecter VIII.”

Will blinked owlishly up at him, before barking out a short laugh. “You’re impossible.” The omega’s eyes had trailed down Hannibal’s body to rest of the thick, twitching length of him, eyeing the hard flesh of it with a mix of hunger, curiosity, and trepidation. “Now shut up and let me taste your cock.”

How could Hannibal hope to deny him?

“Nothing would please me more, however, I’m not quite done tasting yet myself.” Hannibal advanced on the bed, climbing up onto it, prowling over Will until the omega lay flat beneath him. Their eyes were fixed upon each other, Hannibal’s bangs dipping down to trail against Will’s forehead as he pressed closer, licking into the omega’s mouth for a quick taste.

Just as Will began to return the kiss, chasing the alpha’s tongue with his own, Hannibal caught hold of him, flipping them so that Hannibal was on his back. With another flex of muscle, he had Will turned, twisting the younger man so that he was now facing away, the omega’s mouth now inches from his prize.

Hannibal took a moment to adjust slightly, propping his head up with a pillow against the headboard, spreading Will’s creamy thighs wider around his own shoulders.

His own prize was now perfectly within reach as well.

“Oh  _ fuck _ .” Will moaned, managing to sound impressed. He arched his back as Hannibal opened his cheeks and licked back into him, grinding his ass unabashedly back onto his alpha’s face. “You’re a _ genius _ .”

“There’s no reason we both can’t have our fun.” Hannibal agreed, running his sharp teeth over the sweet curve of the omega’s ass. He nipped at the supple skin teasingly, and then more sharply as Will moaned in approval.

Pleased with the omega’s reaction, he delved back into him, lapping at his dripping wet hole at a leisurely pace, attention more focused on the hot, damp breath of Will’s mouth against his cock. He was unable to see the omega’s expression, but he could read the anticipation in the coil of his muscles. He felt a tentative lick against his tip, and felt the low groan that rumbled through the omega at the taste.

Will’s mouth quickly moved to wrap around the head of his uncut cock, slipping down around it, tongue dipping briefly to drag curiously over his foreskin, before the omega pressed forward, eagerly sucking the hot flesh deeper and deeper until finally, he choked.

“I realize that this is likely your first time performing fellatio, and while you may feel somewhat nervous, I promise you that I will appreciate  _ any _ of your efforts.” Hannibal assured, running a broad hand along the curve of Will’s spine in a gentling motion. “I understand that it might feel... daunting, but you needn’t push yourself to impress me.”

Will pulled back, breath coming quickly in harsh pants, and he let out an incredulous bark of laughter. “Are you seriously trying to goad me?” He demanded, pushing himself up on his elbows to look back around of the alpha, his blue eyes challenging.

Hannibal smiled back at Will, eyes twinkling and expression noncommittal. “I wouldn’t dream of doing so, my dear boy.”

With a roll of his eyes, Will turned away, using his hand to angle the alpha’s cock up, and then sank his mouth back down over it, lips spread wide around the thick girth of it.

Hannibal let out a small sigh of pleasure as his cock was subsumed into the hot wet heat, the tip of it pressing deep, hitting at the back of the omega’s throat. Will choked again, his throat fluttering sweetly around Hannibal’s cock, the heat of his mouth tightening as he struggled not to pull away.

Taking Will’s gorgeous ass into his hands, he squeezed the well-muscled flesh, digging his nails in as he opened the omega to his gaze. He groaned in dichotomous pleasure at the determined suck of Will’s mouth over his cock, and at the sweet sight of his perfectly reddened, swollen hole; dripping with slick.

The alpha pulled Will’s hips back again, effectively seating the omega’s hole flush against his mouth, and began to lazily sup on the slick pouring from him, allowing the younger man to ride his ass back against his face whilst simultaneously pushing forward to fuck his mouth down over the alpha’s cock, trying desperately to pleasure both of his hungry holes by using the alpha.

Eager to assist Will in taking his pleasure, Hannibal ceased the languid laving of his tongue, instead spearing the muscle into the omega, giving him something to fuck back onto. The younger man groaned in pleasure, nose now buried against Hannibal’s flesh as he took the alpha’s cock entirely down his throat.

A quick study, then.

Hannibal allowed Will to take what pleasure he wished, content to allow the omega to sloppily suck and mouth at his cock, confident in his ability to hold himself back from orgasm. The boy seemed desperate for it; the tight pull of suction as his cheeks hollowed around the length of him, the way his tongue pressed flat under the girth, still struggling to lick and lap at the hard flesh was incredibly delectable.

The omega began to pull back, a low whine starting up in his throat as he began to force himself back harder, hips juddering back in a rapid staccato as he drew closer and closer to the edge, ready to come just from fucking his mouth open on Hannibal’s cock; from having his sweet hole eaten.

Happily allowing the omega’s chase towards pleasure, Hannibal charitably pressed his hand between Will’s legs, wrist brushing against the man’s balls as he loosely wrapped his fingers around the omega’s needy, weeping cock.

Will groaned around his mouthful, drawing almost all the way off before slumping forward as he came, taking the alpha deep into his throat as he thrashed and whimpered, saliva leaking out in a pool from his mouth as he cried out in a stream of garbled, anguished pleasure.

Just as his sweet boy peaked, Hannibal carefully adjusted his hold on the omega’s cock, pressing his thumb tight and unyielding over the tip of it. With the slit covered, Will’s cum was locked in, sputtering out in a small ooze around the seal of Hannibal’s finger, but was otherwise mostly trapped, the pressure building.

Rearing up, mouth popping off of Hannibal’s cock with a gasp, Will howled, trying to pull away from Hannibal’s grip. “Fuck,  _ please Hannibal, _ oh jesus  _ fucking _ -”

Using his free hand, Hannibal pushed Will’s hip up slightly, just enough to pull the omega’s cock back, between his legs, and towards the alpha’s mouth. Moving quickly, Hannibal removed his thumb, angling the tip of Will’s cock into his mouth.

With his own noise of contentment, Hannibal sucked the come from the omega, holding him carefully by both hips now as the younger man thrashed and swore, half trying to fuck down into the alpha’s mouth, half trying to twist away from the over-stimulation.

The omega was still shuddering and sobbing as Hannibal pulled his mouth away. Gently, Hannibal moved the smaller man, shifting their positions so that Will was now laid on his back on the bed, with Hannibal slotted between his open legs, the alpha covering the omega with his greater bulk.

Kissing him softly, Hannibal waited for the omega to calm, cupping his cheeks and brushing away the small tears that ran down the omega’s face at the intensity of his orgasm, and at the alpha’s unexpected treatment.

Slowly, Will stilled, his breaths coming more easily, and he began to respond, kissing back, open mouthed and sweet, sucking languidly on Hannibal’s tongue.

After allowing a few more moments of recovery, Hannibal pulled up, waiting until Will opened his hazy blue eyes.

The omega blinked up at him, still likely over-sensitive and coming down from the high of his orgasm, before he frowned lightly. “I really want to say I didn’t like that.”

Hannibal smiled down at him, amused and unsurprised at Will’s continued reticence when it came to admitting his more unorthodox sexual appetites. Hannibal had a great number of unusual things planned for the omega, and he was quite certain the boy would come to not only love, but to eagerly anticipate Hannibal’s deviant methods.

“I admit I have a strong fondness for seeing you lost in pleasure.” Hannibal admitted, pressing another light kiss to the omega’s swollen lips.

“I would like to say the same.” Will retorted, “but I’m beginning to wonder if you’ll ever actually get around to fucking me.”

The blunt comment was uncharacteristically charming, coming from his prickly omega, causing Hannibal to smile fondly. “I can deny you nothing, my darling.”

Will let out a noise of surprise as the alpha knelt up, hooking his elbows under the omega’s knees as he opened him up, spreading his legs and looking down at his sopping wet entrance.

Still holding the omega open, Hannibal adjusted his own hips, pressing his fat cock into the wet cleft of the omega’s ass. The tip of it caught against his slightly lax hole, before slipping, the whole of it sliding up until he nudged against Will’s balls, causing the younger man to groan and shift.

The omega angled his own hips up, staring down at where their bodies met, attention rapt, mouth open, scenting the air.

“S-shouldn’t we-” Will paused, swallowing. He looked up into Hannibal’s eyes, unsure. “Shouldn’t I be on my knees?”

Hannibal grinned at him with a shark’s smile. “Normally that would be the correct position, as it is said to improve the chance of an alpha’s seed catching. However, seeing as you are already full with my child, it will not be necessary.”

As he spoke, Hannibal lined up his cock again, holding Will’s wide blue eyes as he notched the tip tight against the omega’s hole. The rim gave, just slightly, beginning to open, eager to suck the alpha’s cock inside.

With his grin still full of teeth, Hannibal slammed home, forcing the full length of his cock up into the tight, wet heat of his omega.

Will arched, his whole body clenching up, his rim stretched around the alpha’s thick girth. He came, his dick shooting out a small burst of pearly white cum against his lower belly as he gasped and shuddered. “Ohhh,  _ fuck _ .... I... I forgot how fucking... god you’re big.”

Hannibal leaned down, covering Will again with his bulk, “And this way, I have the pleasure of watching you as I make you come.”

Will groaned, hands coming up to lock tight on the alpha’s shoulders as the older man began to pound into him. The omega writhed under him, his cock trapped between their bellies, Hannibal’s coarse hair rubbing against the over-sensitive skin, making Will shake from the harsh stimulation.

Much as Hannibal might wish to further tease his sweet boy into orgasm after overwhelming orgasm, the temptation of finally claiming his mate, his  _ true _ mate was overwhelming. The scent of him, flush with the ambrosial notes of pregnancy, coupled with the sense of  _ rightness _ that Hannibal couldn’t deny pulled at his instincts.

This man was  _ his _ ; he carried Hannibal’s child. He was Hannibal’s  _ omega _ .

Pounding into the tight clench of Will’s yielding body, Hannibal let go, knowing that his true mate could take it, that Will could take everything Hannibal had to offer and still beg for more.

Growling now, he hunched over the omega, leg muscles tightly coiled, his body a machine built for this, powerful and efficient and dominant, able to fuck into this perfect creature below him with the force and skill required to  _ take  _ and  _ own _ and  _ mate. _

Will came, his sweet little hole sucking that much harder, squeezing the plunging length of Hannibal’s cock. The younger man keened, desperate to be filled, to be full of his alpha’s cock, to be pumped full of seed until he was bursting with it.

Watching the omega’s face greedily, Hannibal drank in the sight of his release, groaning at the vice-like squeeze around his cock.

It only made him want more.

Snarling, he slammed in harder, pushing Will’s legs out wider, closer to his chest, opening the omega up to his assault. He tilted the omega’s hips up, slamming his cock down, straight into the centre of him, getting as deep as he possibly could.

Grinding down into that wet heat, Hannibal juddered his hips against Will’s ass, hardly pulling his cock out at all now, just shoving and shoving and shoving in, cramming his dick deep inside until finally -

“ _ Please _ , alpha!” Will begged. “Please give me your knot, please please pease, I need your fucking teeth in my neck!  _ Mate me!” _

Will was coming again, his hole contracting in waves around his cock as he peaked, wrapping eagerly around the knot catching against his rim.

Hannibal groaned, feeling himself throbbing, the base of his dick swelling and thickening rapidly inside of that perfect clench of heat.

The knot took, locking inside as Will continued to spasm around him, still coming.

Hannibal leaned closer, skin burning against skin as he blanketed Will, nuzzling into his shoulder, dragging his nose up the smooth column of his neck.

Finally, with no more thought left in him, Hannibal bit down, teeth sharp and hungry as they tore into that sweet flesh, canines clamping around the mating gland there, unerring and unhesitating.

_ Finally _ .

Will howled, a long, ragged note of pain and pleasure and fulfillment, baring his neck fully to Hannibal as he cried out and convulsed.

Something within them  _ snapped _ , a feeling of pure euphoria overcoming them both.

Hannibal groaned at the sensation, teeth still locked into their hold, his eyes rolling back.

And then it was his turn to growl in pain as the omega’s blunt teeth clamped harshly into his own skin, mirroring the spot on Hannibal’s own neck.

Will laying his own claim.

Hannibal pulled away from his hold, mouth open in a harsh pant as he absorbed the pain of it. His cock pulsed, releasing another flood of hot, thick come into his omega.

Dreamily, Will pulled back, teeth covered in red.

Hannibal was in love.

The alpha slammed his mouth forward, tongue lapping in to drag over the hot blood covering Will’s lips and teeth, licking his own taste from his omega.

Will groaned, tongue tangling with his, their blood mingling; a perfect, heady mix.

Finally, they pulled back, grinning somewhat dopily at each other, overwhelmed by the bond and the pain and the pleasure.

Still locked together, they dozed, full of each other. Minds, bodies, and souls.

Finally complete.


	9. Epilogue

_ Two Years Later _

Will looked up as the door to the bedroom opened, watching as Hannibal entered. The alpha paused ever so slightly as he saw Will sitting up in the bed, covered loosely with the light cotton sheets.

“I’m surprised to see you still up.” The alpha commented, moving fully into the room. Will followed him with his eyes as the older man went into the walk-in closet, beginning to undress for bed. “I thought you would be exhausted after today. I’ve managed to get both Clara and Madeline down to sleep.”

Will made a noncommittal noise, looking back down at his book. “I’m not in a rush to sleep today.”

Hannibal exited the closet, fully divested of his clothes. He was still quite the sight two years on; all broad shoulders and long, muscled legs. The thick hair on his chest and stomach was greyer now, his form slightly less svelte. But still so gorgeous.

“Is that so?” Hannibal mused, giving him a knowing, salacious look. By now, they knew each other  _ quite  _ intimately, but Will still liked giving him shit.

“Are you trying to imply something, Hannibal?” The omega demanded, raising an eyebrow. He tried not to smile as the alpha scented the air, his gait turning predatory as he closed in on the bed.

“Only that you seem to want something.” Hannibal answered. “And I’m curious as to what that is.”

Smiling up into the alpha’s face as the older man crawled onto the bed, caging him back against the headboard, Will huffed. “I’m afraid I want something fairly particular. And it doesn’t require much of your involvement.”

“Oh?” Hannibal inquired, raising an eyebrow, surprise lighting up his sharp features as Will pressed both hands against his shoulders and shoved him back.

Will’s smile morphed into a smirk as he pushed the alpha back to sit against the headboard, straddling the older man.

“I’m in the mood to help myself.”

Hannibal breathed out through his nose as Will reached between them, familiar, calloused fingers wrapping around his thickening cock.

Pressing his lips into the alpha’s neck, Will began to work him over, pumping his fist tightly and expertly over his dick, working him into full hardness with a practiced ease.

Will was already wet, having spent much of the afternoon fantasizing about having this cock in him, so as soon as he had the alpha hard enough, Will squeezed his hand around the base, angling it up as he hitched up onto his knees, dragging the head of the cock through the slick cleft of his ass until it caught on his hole.

With a breathy sigh of pleasure, Will felt the tip of it pop into him, thick and burning without any prep - just like he liked it.

Slowly, achingly slowly, he dropped down onto it, dragging down inch by tantalizing inch.

Fully seated, he allowed himself a moment to just bask in the stretch of it, his rim tight around the girth of his alpha’s meaty cock. He let out a long groan as he trailed his finger around his own hole, feeling at where he’d opened up around it, wet and so fucking full.

Just as slowly as he had pulled the cock into himself, he began to rise, thigh muscles bunching as he brought himself up. He rested his hands on the alpha’s shoulders, using the taller man as leverage as he rocked up, and then ever so slowly, dropped back down.

Up and down, he slowly dragged the alpha’s cock in and out of himself, teasingly pressing it against his own sweet spot in long, shivery glides.

Hannibal was patient through it all, basking in his omega’s pleasure, hands rested loosely on Will’s hips as he played with his alpha’s cock, teasing them both.

Maintaining his languid speed, Will fucked himself slowly into orgasm, dredging up the release so deep within him that he curled up as he came, muscles spasming as he dragged himself down one final time, pressing his alpha’s cock into his prostate as he shuddered out his release, cock trapped between their bodies as he spilled onto both of their stomachs, hole clenching, slick dripping from him now.

Will paused, breathing heavily into Hannibal’s neck as he just sat, hole still clenching rhythmically around his alpha as he came down from his high.

With a soft, pleased noise, Will drew back, and started again.

Carefully and oh-so-lazily, Will brought himself to another orgasm using Hannibal’s cock, hole greedily sucking the thick length as he came, feeling the pleasure deep inside the core of him.

Hannibal remained still, patient as Will pulled back to begin again, watching the omega with captivation and gluttony, awe and wonderment on his face.

Groaning, Will collapsed forward into his alpha as he came again, smearing wetness all over their thighs and stomachs now. He was shivering, slightly over-stimulated and content to sit in his alpha’s arms, warming his cock.

The press of their bodies was comfortable and familiar, but he couldn’t quite manage to sit still, his chest aching where it pressed against Hannibal’s.

He squirmed, and Hannibal easily caught on to his discomfort, bringing his large, warm hand up to cup under the slight swell of his left breast. “Will you let me help you now, darling boy?”

Will huffed, arching at the soft, squeezing touch of his mate’s hand, his hole clenching in reaction. “The weaning process has been... trying, in more ways than one.”

“Oh darling.” Hannibal cooed, increasing the pressure of his hold, squeezing more harshly now. Will cried out, arching further as the alpha continued. “You know I adore helping you with this. Let me taste you?”

Will groaned, head falling back, hating the pressure and fullness in his chest, wanting desperately to relieve the feeling.

Hannibal always knew exactly what he wanted.

“Please, alpha.” He whispered, looking up at Hannibal through his lashes, pouting.

The older man looked entirely delighted, and brought one strong arm up to cradle Will, bracing him as he swept down and pressed his mouth to the omega’s nipple, lapping at it before closing his lips around it in a tight seal.

Will moaned, long and loud, as the alpha began to suck, a few short pulls enough to start the flow, and the relief the omega felt was instantaneous.

Moaning in his own pleasure, Hannibal greedily took in mouthfuls of the omega’s sweet milk, running his tongue tantalizingly around the peaked flesh to encourage more out, sucking and squeezing at the fullness of the flesh in his palm.

Will couldn’t help but clench up, shuddering and thrusting back on to Hannibal’s cock as he was milked, moaning and gasping at the occasional hint of teeth.

He whined as the alpha pulled away, but was soothed when the man simply switched from one nipple to the other, relieving the pressure on his other full breast with the same careful, intense treatment.

Flushed now, Will couldn’t stop himself as he worked himself over the alpha’s cock, caught up in the feeling of  _ wrongness _ at taking pleasure in this, as he always did, despite the eager attention that his mate had paid to his tits ever since he had begun to lactate.

Even before the twins had been born, he couldn’t help but feel illicit when Hannibal mouthed at his chest, lapping the sweet white milk from his skin.

“Oh god.” He gasped, feeling himself coming close to another orgasm. “Hannibal-”

The alpha groaned as Will fisted a hand in his hair, pulling; not away, but  _ towards _ his chest.

Hannibal sucked harder, squeezing now at both tits as Will gasped, arching up into the older man’s mouth as he came, hard, squeezing tight around the cock inside of him.

“You are beyond description, my sweet, perfect mate.” Hannibal groaned, teeth scraping over Will’s swollen nipples, milk leaking freely now from the rosy buds, dripping down the slight swell of his chest. “I would have you like this forever, filled with my children, full with milk.”

They both groaned, Will feeling the crest of another, sharper orgasm upon him at the very image. “Yes - _ yes _ . I want to be full, so fucking full with your come. Want you to breed me again and again, alpha. Want you to keep me stuffed with your knot until you knock me up.”

Snarling now, Hannibal changed his grip to Will’s hips, holding the omega in place as the alpha began to fuck up into him, ramming his cock deep as his knot began to form.

“I will give you  _ everything _ .” Hannibal hissed, bullying his knot up and into Will. “I will give you and our children the  _ world.” _

Will felt a powerful wave of pleasure wash over him as they peaked together, their bond shimmering bright and intense between them, leaving him breathless, staring into Hannibal’s deep maroon eyes.

Slowly, they both came down, curled around each other in a tight embrace. Will nuzzled his way into the crook of Hannibal’s neck, breathing deeply, savouring the thick scent of his alpha. “So I take it you want more kids?”

Hannibal chuckled, similarly buried into Will’s neck, nose flush with his skin, mouthing at his mating mark. “Your heat should be coming up again in the spring.”

Will grinned into the alpha’s skin. “Sounds like fun.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feel free to let me know if I didn't tag something that should be tagged!
> 
> Thanks for reading :)


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